Eternally Yours
by FanGirl10
Summary: Stranded in Pete's World, Rose makes a discovery that will allow her to fulfill her promise of forever, but she drags more than herself across the void. Reunited, how will the Doctor react to all of his 'pink and yellow' human's baggage?
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1: Pete's World_

Rose shook the restraining hand off of her shoulder and glared at her mother. "For the last time, Mum, there is no choice."

Jackie Tyler huffed. "Don't take that tone with me young lady. All I'm sayin' is this idea of yours comes from a dream. A dream Rose! What if it kills us all?"

Rose drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly before replying. "What was it that led me to bloody Norway? Was that a figment of my imagination too? You don't have to come, nobody is makin' ya, but like I said, there is no choice, not for me. " With that, Rose grit her teeth and strode over to see if Mickey was ready.

Jackie's lips firmed into a hard line but she returned to her husband Pete's side with a decided lack of fear. She straightened her spine, shushed the small baby strapped to her chest and admonished Pete to bloody well not drop the infant perched on his hip. "Very well then, get on with it. It's almost tea time."

Chuckles rippled from the assembled group and Rose's mouth curved into a small smile as pride flooded through her. Jackie Tyler was tough; a fighter and a survivor. Rose hoped that scrappy spirit would carry her through this time as it always had before.

Fear coursed through her as she scanned the small group surrounding her, making sure everyone's dimension hoppers were in place. _God! What the hell was she doing?_ Jackie was right to question the insane plan she and Mickey had devised. It was theory, nothing but slightly educated guesses held together by gut intuition and fervent hope. Rose was risking the lives of everyone she loved based on the illusory feeling of hope.

A mental image of twinkling brown eyes under a fringe of wild chestnut hair rose in her mind and Rose smiled. Then again, they both quite liked hope.

Drawing a deep breath she assumed an air of confidence she in no way felt and reiterated instructions.

"Ok, everyone knows what to do? Mick opens the rift, I start glowing, and you lot hit your yellow buttons." At their affirmative nods Rose flashed a grin and issued a cheeky salute. "Right then, see ya on the other side!"

Before her lingering doubts could catch up with her, Rose stepped forward, and let the energy seeping from the ground beneath her feet connect with her mind. Just like the first time she'd stood next to what she and Mickey had since discovered was this world's rift, her TARDIS key began to warm against the thin skin between her breasts. She closed a trembling hand around the faintly pulsing metal and motioned for Mickey to activate their cobbled together rift manipulator.

The ground rumbled and a crack began to form beneath her feet. White hot, the energy surged through her, seeping into her bones. The warmth spread from the soles of her feet to the top of her head and she flung out her arms, welcoming the surging power that flooded her mind and merged with her soul.

As if uttered from the depths of a cave, she heard her mother scream, her 'not' father shout, and Mickey give the command to jump before her mind was overwhelmed with the lilting melody she had up until now only heard in her dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Pit Stop

"Aaaand Cardiff," flicking a switch and peering at the monitor, the Doctor added, "2010."

He turned to Martha and grinned. "Top off the old girl then we're off, what d'ya fancy next? There's a star going super nova in the Plixan galaxy oooor," he spun around and began to enter coordinates, "I know! Ceritenax VI! Best ice cream in the universe. Weeell I say best in the universe but it might be more accurate to say best in the –"His mouth snapped shut as the TARDIS began rocking wildly, the lights flickering in counterpoint to the ship's gyrations.

The Doctor raced around the console and began making adjustments, ignoring Martha's shrieks as she careened around the room. The Doctor banged on the console and tweaked several dials, muttering "What? That's not supposed to happen!"

"What's going on?" Martha stumbled to his side, jerking on his arm when he didn't immediately reply. "Doctor! What is wrong?"

Frowning, he shook her off and continued to dance around the console talking to himself. "What is it old girl? Can't be the vortex stabilizers, they aren't engaged – maybe the subsequence manipulators? Had to bypass the spatial recognition manifold a few weeks ago to fix the problem with the zone calibration circuit but that shouldn't have … Oh! Ha!" He slammed his hand down on the intake modulator. "That should do it –"the TARDIS ceased rocking as the control room went dark and the engine's hum faltered in its steady rhythm. "Ooor maybe not …"

"Doctor?" Martha queried. "Wha, what happened?"

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "No idee –"

His mouth fell open as golden light erupted from the far side of the console and sparks began to fall from the ceiling. He averted his gaze, shouting for Martha to do the same.

"What? Why? What's that –"Martha grunted as the Doctor jerked her to the floor. "Don't argue! Just keep your eyes closed!"

They huddled by the jump seat as the blinding light pulsed to a haunting melody the Doctor had only heard the TARDIS sing once before. He shivered and tried to force his memories of Rose and Satellite Five from his mind instead focusing his thoughts on what was causing his TARDIS to react in such an extraordinary manner.

Could be something alien coming through the rift? Perhaps a clog in the –

His thoughts trailed off as the TARDIS quieted and the light diminished, leaving the control room bathed in the greenish hue of the time rotor. He tugged Martha to her feet then whipped out his glasses and peered at the monitor. He made several adjustments to various regulators to no avail.

Tapping his sonic screwdriver against his teeth he peered at the console and queried the TARDIS for answers. The silence from her was even more worrying than the previous pyrotechnics. "What is your problem, hmmm? Bad energy from the rift? Nah, that's preposter—"

"DOCTOR!"

"Not now Martha. This doesn't make any sense, why aren't you talking to me old girl? Your power cells are a bit low and one of your converter couplings has come loose but that shouldn't render you speechless—"

"Doctor! Come over here—"

"Martha Jones! There is nothing that can possibly be more important than—"

"Doctor there's a woman passed out on the floor!"

"Except that!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Gangs All Here

Rose grimaced as her back connected with unforgiving metal. _Hmmm, might want to work on my landings, although the Doctor hasn't managed very many decent ones …. _

Her thoughts were interrupted by chiming bells that gave her the strong impression of laughter. Rose knew that sound and a wealth of affection arose in her. She rolled over and placed her hands on the grating, murmuring a "hello old girl", before struggling to her feet.

"Ro, Ro—Rose?" She turned to the owner of the stuttering whisper as tears filled her eyes.

She reached a trembling hand toward him and forced sound from too tight vocal chords. "Hello."

In the blink of an eye she found herself pressed tightly to the deceptively muscular chest of the Doctor as he choked out their ritual greeting. "Hello."

Her arms snaked around his waist and she clutched at the smooth fabric of his blue coat. She frowned but filed the topic for later. Right now she was content to breathe in his familiar scent of cinnamon, sandalwood, and something she always indentified as 'time'.

The voices of her Mum, Pete, and Mickey shouting from outside the TARDIS and a wailing baby that could only be her brother Tony, reached her ears but she allowed herself a moment of selfishness and wriggled closer. "I missed you."

He kissed the top of her head then loosened his hold enough to look into her eyes. "I missed you too but you, impossible girl, have some explaining to do –"

"Doctor!" Rose and the Doctor jumped as a woman shouted close to his ear.

He rolled his eyes and turned to look at the dark skinned girl. "Yes Martha?"

"Don't yes me! I've been shouting your name for at least five minutes as have whoever is pounding on the doors!" She gestured toward Rose. "And I'd like to know who she is and how the hell she got in here."

Turning his back on Martha, he gave Rose a squeeze and then stepped to her side, running a hand through his hair as he glanced between her and the angry woman. His brown eyes locked with Rose's and she saw wary happiness that made her stomach clench. She glanced at the woman, not missing the possessive way she stared at the Doctor.

Panic flared. What if he'd moved on? What if he didn't want her here anymore? What if –

She shook the depressing thoughts away as renewed pounding and shrieks that only Jackie Tyler could produce filled the air. She forced a smile. "Ah, Doctor? While the TARDIS can withstand the assembled hordes of Genghis Kahn I don't think even she can hold out against my mum for much longer."

His eyes widened even as he laughed. "Jackie? You brought Jackie Tyler with you and I've left her standing outside whilst we've enjoyed a cuddle?" He glanced over at Martha, "Let that lot in, will you?"

Assuming she'd follow his order, he turned back and gathered Rose into his arms again. Hands resting on her hips, he shuddered theatrically and winked at her. "Tell me the truth, how bad of a slap am I in for?"

Rose's mouth stretched into a wide grin, her tongue peeking through the corner of her lips. "The Oncoming Storm, reduced to quaking in his chucks by my mum, don't worry Doctor, I'll save you." She stretched up and placed a light kiss upon his cheek and heard him murmur, "You always do, precious girl," before she moved away to greet her family as they tumbled up the ramp.

Jackie grabbed Rose and pulled her into a hug, all the while castigating the Doctor. "You, you alien git! We been standin' out there for ages while you paw my daughter—"she squeezed Rose once more and released her, advancing toward the Doctor, hand raised. "Don't think I'm gonna let you off easy just because you've given me a—"

"Mum!" Rose grabbed her mother's arm, spinning her around and, mindful of the baby strapped to her chest, pulled her into a loose hug. Mouth pressed to her ear she whispered. "Don't. Don't you dare blurt it out like that! I'll tell him in my own time."

She stepped back and ran her hand over the head of the sleeping baby nestled to Jackie. "Is he alright? What about Tony and Dad and Mickey?"

Jackie nodded and gestured toward the door where Pete and Mickey stood arguing and struggling with a backpack. "We're all fine. Tony's just a bit stroppy, - Oi, Pete! His bottle is in the left side pocket –"She huffed as Tony turned up the volume. "Men! He's hopeless without me, I tell ya." She unstrapped the baby sling and handed Rose the sleeping baby within it before striding down the ramp. "Oh give 'em to me! I swear, two grown men can't handle one little boy! Well don't just stand there gawkin' get me that bottle –"

Rose laughed and cradled the baby close. To her amazement he slept soundly, oblivious to both having crossed the void and the racket echoing through the TARDIS.

The Doctor cleared his throat and sidled up to her, eyes conveying that same wary happiness but also an all too familiar to Rose look; Insatiable Time Lord curiosity.

She struggled to get the baby sling fastened around her shoulders as her brain frantically looked for answers she knew he would press for.

"Umm, not that I'm not – guh, happy doesn't even cover it—but I'd like to know just how you accomplished the impossible, Miss Rose Tyler."

She smirked. "Knew you wouldn't wait long." She finished strapping the baby to her chest, checked that he was still sleeping, and then grinned at the Time Lord impatiently bouncing on his heels.

"Ya know, I could really do with a cuppa before the inquisition …"

He huffed. "It's not an inquisition, Rose! I just, I just need some answers." He ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up at even odder than normal angles, then glanced at the group huddled at the top of the ramp, wincing as Jackie continued to grouse at Pete and Mickey while she jostled and rocked the still fussy infant.

"Doctor?" Martha strode across the control room, confusion and irritation evident in her posture. "So sorry to interrupt," she drawled, "but I think I'm owed an explanation and introduction …" she looked pointedly at Rose.

The Doctor shook himself and tuned out Jackie's ranting. "Right, Martha Jones, I'd like you to meet –"

"Hey, is this a private party or can anyone come?"

They all turned toward the door. She vaguely felt the Doctor flinch and heard Martha mutter, "what now?" But all Rose could really concentrate on was the twinkling blue eyes of the friend she'd thought dead.

"Jack?" Rose whispered. She stared at the handsome, smiling face she thought she'd never see again and then ran into his open arms. He gripped her loosely, muttering something about not squishing the baby as he dropped kisses on her face and hair.

Rose laughed. "Oh Jack! I'm so happy to see you! I thought —"

Rose shrieked as the TARDIS started to shake. Lights flashed, the Time Rotor began to move and the dematerialization sequence started. Jack cradled Rose as she sank to her knees, shielding the now crying baby from debris as pieces of coral and wires started falling from the ceiling. She winced as the cries of the baby clutched to her chest blended with the high pitched chimes of the TARDIS.

Her head began to pound as the shrill song roared through her mind, muting even the shrieks and shouts of her fellow passengers as they scrambled for purchase in the wildly tilting ship.

She frowned, trying to decipher the meaning of the discordant song screeching through her head. "What is it? What has you so upset, old girl?"

She turned to ask Jack what was happening but the words caught in her throat as she got a good look at him. Her eyes widened. Wavy golden lines swirled around and through her friend. She shook her head and blinked but the shimmering lines continued to undulate and enfold Jack. Entranced, she reached out to grasp the dancing threads. The instant her hand made contact with the golden strands the TARDIS shrieked, causing Rose to shudder and gasp. Her heart began to pound and sweat peppered her brow as panic flooded her mind threatening to overwhelm her.

Rose released the strange threads and placed her hand on a coral strut, reaching out to the TARDIS with her thoughts. _What is it, Girl? You're frightened, yeah? But of what? _

The TARDIS song continued to batter at Rose's mind but as she concentrated on the sound words and pictures started to form. Rose closed her eyes and focused on the images and thoughts bombarding her and suddenly she understood.

Taking several deep breaths, she pushed the panic of the TARDIS into a corner of her mind and dragged herself over to the console.

"What? What are you doing?" Rose winced as the Doctor used percussive maintenance on several buttons and switches. She glanced at the monitor, wondering what he was gaping at.

"Doctor? What does that say?"

"Impossible," he muttered. "She's heading into the future, farther than anyone has ever been!" Fear laced his voice as he pounded on the monitor. "Stop this!"

"Doctor! I think -" Rose tugged on his sleeve, trying to tell him what she'd figured out but he shook her off and continued banging on the console and shouting at the TARDIS.

Rolling her eyes, Rose nudged him aside and placed her hands on the console.

"It's all right girl. I know you're scared but it's just Jack." She stretched and placed her hand on the Time Rotor. "He's different now but you remember him, yeah? We love him, we made him."

The maelstrom in her mind began to quiet as Rose continued to stroke and murmur to the TARDIS. Realizing that they were still hurtling through the Vortex toward something that horrified the Time Lord, Rose asked the ship to return control to the Doctor. Her eyes flew open when the mental response implied that the TARDIS was exhausted, needed to land, and couldn't or wouldn't comply. Silently begging the ship to find a planet safe for her family and friends, Rose dropped to the floor and braced herself for a rough landing.

"Mum, Dad, we're going to crash! Prepare for a hard landing."

"What?" Jackie Tyler screamed. "You stupid alien, turn this bloody blue box around and take us –"

"Mum! This isn't the Doctor's fault and he can't fix it! Just shut up and protect Tony!"

"Rose, how the hell –"

She tugged on the Doctor's leg until he crouched beside her. "Never mind that now, there's nothing you can do except help me get this little one through the landing!"

He stared at her for an instant and then nodded. "Right," he braced his feet and pulled her within the shelter of his arms, his body curving around her and the child she cradled. "Answers Rose, I expect lots of answers as soon as we've sorted this."

She chuckled. "I'd worry if you didn't Doctor."

His hugged her closer and dropped a kiss on her cheek before leaning back and yelling to Jack. "Rose is right, the landing is going to be rough! Make sure the others are secure!"

Seconds later the TARDIS began to materialize. Rose yelped as the impact drove her head into the Doctor's chin. A strut near the ceiling snapped, causing sparking wires to dangle above them. Jack yelled, Martha screamed, Jackie cursed, smoke filled the control room, and the cloister bells began to toll.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: End of His Rope

"Everyone all right?" He leaned over Rose, running the sonic screwdriver over her and the baby. "Nothing is broken." He released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "You two okay?"

At her nod, he helped her to her feet and pushed her toward the doors with instructions to get everyone out. His respiratory bypass began to kick in as smoke filled the control room. Grabbing the fire extinguisher he sprayed the smoldering console, yelling to his passengers that they only had minutes to exit before concentrating on the mental link with his ship.

_Status Report, Old Girl._

_Fine._

He stiffened at the tone of irritation in her reply. The smoke was straining even his body now but he paused by the doors and tried one more time for a thorough report only to be met with a wave of emotion that he could only categorize as 'stroppy'.

Huffing, he stalked out and slammed the doors. What was the matter with his ship? He ran through everything that had happened since he'd landed in Cardiff, frustration and anger rising. The Tardis' behavior when he landed on the Rift, Rose's impossible arrival with the Tyler clan, Jack, The Tardis' crazy flight – he grunted and clamped down on his chaotic thoughts and forced himself to focus on the scene in front of him.

He rolled his eyes at Jackie's ranting, winced in sympathy for the verbally battered Pete and supressed joining in on the amusement evident on Mickey and Jack's faces, pointedly ignored the anger and confusion in Martha's eyes, and zeroed in on Rose Tyler.

All of the current chaos seemed to center on his pink and yellow girl. His hearts fluttered at the sight of her cuddling and soothing the baby she was cradling, and wasn't _that_ just more to add to his growing list of things to be confounded by courtesy of one small human!

He pushed down his joy at having her with him and focused on his frustration. Answers. He would have answers, now. He stalked over to Rose and focused on keeping his tone even. "Rose Tyler. I've said it before and I'm saying it again. You are the most Jeopardy Friendly companion I have ever had!"

Her mouth dropped open- _such a beautiful mouth_. _No! Not going there, focus, focus!_ "Answers. I want answers, Rose, now. What have you done?"

Confusion clouded her eyes. "What have _I _done? You're blaming me for all of - of this?" She waved her hand to encompass both the Tardis and their now rapt audience.

"Yes! Isn't it obvious? You arrive and all hell breaks loose!"

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish several times before it snapped shut. She glared at him and the thought that she could give his Oncoming Storm look a run for its money flitted through his mind before he shook himself and demanded his genius self to stay on task.

"You, you – I can't believe you're laying all of this at my door –"

"Really Rose, I know you're only human but surely you can follow my logic on this one!" He cringed at the sarcasm dripping in his voice but anger at his inability to control his feelings for her coupled with frustration over all of the unanswered questions rolling through his mind were playing merry havoc with his celebrated Time Lord control.

He paced in front of her, dragging his hands through his hair repeatedly as his never ending gob overrode his common sense. "I wasn't looking for trouble. Just a top off for the Old Girl and we'd of been on our way, but then you pop in and – and," he threw his hands up in the air. "Rasillon Rose! I've just stranded Jackie Tyler on an alien planet, JACKIE TYLER, Rose!"

"WHAT? You plonker, what the hell do you mean strand—"

"Not NOW, Jackie – and to top it all off my Tardis is in a snit and refuses to speak to me, though I know very well she is capable of it as I heard you – and that's another thing!" He spun around and pointed at Rose. "Since when have you been able to talk to my ship?"

He stomped his foot, knew it was unbecoming of a Time Lord, and didn't give a damn. "Surely you see the connections I'm making, Rose? Doesn't even take a Time Lord brain! You've outdone yourself in attracting trouble this time –"

"TROUBLE?"

He blinked as a finger stabbed at his chest. He met Rose's eyes and winced. _Ah, perhaps he'd gone a bit too far -_

"_I'm_ attracting trouble?" She snorted. "Pot meet kettle!"

She poked him, hard, to punctuate each word and he took a step back, assuring himself it was only strategic retreat to diffuse the situation. Yeah, that sounded good.

"Let me get this straight. You're blamin' me for being stranded here and you're poutin', no!" She shook her head. "Don't give me that 'Time Lords don't pout' crap cuz that's what yer doin' and doin' it better than a five year old! Oooh," she paced, fingers clenching and unclenching into fists, and not for the first time he wished this regeneration had more control over his mouth.

Rose's chest heaved, giving him glimpses of - really he couldn't be blamed for noticing as the movement jostled the whimpering baby strapped to it, and she _would_ wear low cut blouses, and no he wasn't even close to leering – Time Lords didn't _leer—_

His befuddled brain was brought back to clarity at Rose's half sobbed words. His head jerked up and his shoulders drooped as his anger fled._ She thought, she thought he didn't … Rasillon!_

The stricken look upon her face made his hearts skip rhythm. He was … he was – yep, every insult Jackie had ever hurled at him definitely applied.

He swallowed hard and dragged Rose into his arms as close as the little one attached to her allowed. "Rose," he whispered in her ear. "Don't ever, ever think that! I will always want you with me and, and I'm grateful to whatever benevolence is left in the universe that you managed to come back. I'm just, it's just … I'm sorry for taking it out on you, precious girl."

He felt her relax slightly but her emotions were still running high, battering at the front of his mind. _And wasn't that just one more thing to ponder …_

"S'okay Doctor." She sniffed and pushed on his chest until he released her. "A lot to deal with at the moment, yeah?"

She gave him a smile but his hearts clenched that it wasn't even close to the beaming tongue touched smile he had always thought of as his and her warm brown eyes showed her worry and insecurity.

Blast him and his runaway gob! He had a lot more apologizing to do once they gained some privacy.

Rose squeezed his hand, then dropped it and turned to address the rest of their motley group.

"Okay you lot we've got to get sorted, yeah?"

She held up her hand as Jackie started to speak. "Mum, I know what you think. Blimey, think the whole planet is aware of your feelings about the Doctor and the Tardis! But it isn't either of 'ems fault and your whingin' isn't going to help so just, just give me a mo, 'k?"

To the Doctor's surprise Jackie Tyler stopped shrieking and simply grabbed Pete's hand. His eyebrows rose as he realized everyone was watching Rose, calmly waiting for, dare he say, orders?

She was taking command and everyone- no, not everyone. Jack Harkness was staring at Rose with the same astonishment and pride he suspected was reflected on his own face and Martha … he sighed, he was going to have to deal with that situation but he hoped his luck held and it was later rather than sooner.

He gathered his wits and tuned in to what Rose was saying.

"So, the Tardis is knackered and were gonna have to let her heal so first thing we'll need is shelter. We're in luck cuz she managed to materialize on Madrelass in the …" she paused, closing her eyes and cocking her head to the side as if listening to something. A smile lit her face as she met everyone's gazes again. "We're on Madrelass in the late 33rd century and for them that's a great time, a bit like our Earth's mid 20thonly they're used to off worlders. They have enough technology not to be spooked by us and it's a peaceful planet, with friendly, humanoid people, so –"

"Hold on, who are you to think you're in charge?" Martha Jones glared at Rose and the Doctor realized the universe had it in for him, yet again.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and stepped up, grabbing Rose's hand. Now or never, he supposed. "Ah, Martha, glad to see you survived the crash unscathed and still asking pertinent questions!" He grinned hoping compliments would soothe his prickly companion. His grin faded when her face didn't soften. _Right then, best get on with it._ "Never did get around to those introductions, did I?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. "Yes, well, guess I should … Martha Jones, meet Mickey Smith and Jack Harkness, they travelled with me a while back." He nodded toward Jackie and Pete. "And they are Jackie and Pete Tyler and their little ones, sorry I haven't learned their names yet, and, blimey you two have been busy," he grinned at the smug look on Pete's face. "And this," he swung the hand that held Rose's. "This is Rose Tyler, my … my, this is Rose."

Martha gasped. "Wait, _THE_ Rose? The one that _left_ you?"

He opened his mouth to refute her choice of words, he really did, but Rose beat him to it.

"Left him? I didn't _leave_ him –"

"Aaah, Rose meet Martha Jones, Martha," he gestured with his clasped hand. "Rose. And, uh, you may have misunderstood me when I said –"

"Oh ho mate! It's Sarah Jane all over again! You never learn. The missus and the –"

"Mickey Smith! This is in no way like that, not that the other was either, Martha has been traveling with me as my companion and Rose isn't my ex, I mean –"

"Diggin' that hole deeper, Doc."

The Doctor glared at Jack and growled. "Not helping, Harkness, and don't call me Doc!"

Genius that he was, he quickly realized another strategic retreat, err change in topic was warranted. He dropped Rose's hand and clapped his together, drawing all eyes to him.

"Now then, that's enough chit chat, Rose is right, we are on Madrelass," he turned to Rose, "and adding to my ever growing list of questions, how did you know that?"

He waved his hand. "Never mind, I'll add it to the list."

He turned back to the group. "The Tardis needs to heal herself and that means we are locked out until she has enough extra energy to operate the life support systems, and so, we need to find a way to provide the necessities."

He tugged on his earlobe, stalling for time as he searched for a way to avoid a Tyler slap as he admitted to a further problem. "Uh, trouble with that is, I don't, that is to say …"

Rose giggled and grabbed his hand. "No money, huh?"

He smirked. Never could fool her. "Yep, didn't have time to grab even a credit stick before the Tardis booted me out, not that credit sticks would do any good here, but –"

"You pillock! You've gotten us stuck here and now yer tellin' us we haven't even got -"

He darted back as Jackie Tyler leaped at him, hand raised. He closed his eyes, braced for the inevitable but to his surprise it didn't come.

He opened his eyes to find Pete Tyler restraining his wife. He grinned. _Nice to see Pete hasn't let Jackie run completely roughshod over him._

"Jacks, let the man finish. I'm sure he has a solution." Pete met the Doctor's eyes. "Don't you, Doctor?"

He cleared his throat. "Ah, as to that –"

"Barter!" The Doctor gazed down at Rose, frowning. What was she on about? Ah, his wandering brain caught up. "Oh, yes! Barter, we can trade something for local currency." He raised the hand clasping Rose's and kissed her knuckles. "Brilliant, you are."

His breath caught as she graced him with her tongue tipped smile. His hearts pounded and his mind started to wander toward several things he'd like to do with his lovely girl only to be brought up short by reality. He was pretty sure he had nothing to barter.

Sighing, he plunged his hands into the pockets of his blue suit coat and had his fears confirmed. Bigger on the inside they may be but this lesser worn suit wasn't stocked like his pinstripes … he started emptying the contents of the pockets, grimacing as nothing useful appeared.

He met Rose's eyes and offered a hesitant smile. "Ah, great idea, bartering, but I'm not … that is …"

Rose took in the, banana, ball of twine, chewing gum, Ice Warrior action figure, and assorted bits and bobs he used to cobble together Tardis parts and groaned. "Ya telling me this is all you've got?"

He nodded and started to apologize but stopped as she walked over to her father.

"Dad, looks like we'll be needin' a bit of your stash a might bit earlier than we expected."

Pete nodded and pulled a small velvet bag from his jacket pocket. "No problem, sweetheart, take as much as you need."

She smiled at him and returned to the Doctor's side, handing him the bag. "We're set then. Let's go, the babies are hungry and we're all ready for a kip."

Bemused, the Doctor simply stared at her.

"Doctor? Come on then, there's a town not far from here and judging by the smell, I'm betting we're near the coast."

He shook himself. 'Ah, what's in the bag then?"

She hip bumped him, grinning. "Open it."

He pulled the strings on the bag and gasped as a pile of diamonds flowed onto his palm. Blinking, he looked at Pete. "You always carry these Pete?"

Pete laughed. "Nah, I liquidated most of my fortune when …" he paused, looking at Rose, who shook her head. "When, uh, we were uh, ready to come to your Earth. Jacks is used to a life of leisure now ya know, couldn't disappoint her while I reestablish myself now could I?"

The Doctor laughed and agreed but he had the distinct impression Pete's explanation would have ended differently had Rose not interfered. He rolled his eyes at yet another mystery surrounding his impossible girl but, seeing that the sun was low in the sky he added it to his mental list and threaded his fingers with Rose's.

"Looks like we're set then." He grinned and strode off toward civilization. "Allon-sy!"


	5. Chapter 5

** Welcome to Madrelass, Jackie Tyler**

"Aaah, here we are then, home sweet home." He heard Jackie snort and cleared his throat. "Or more precisely, vacation villa sweet vacation villa." He grinned at Jackie. "Welcome to Madrelass, Jackie Tyler! You're first alien planet; I picked a good one, if I do say so myself … and I do."

Jackie rolled her eyes and pushed past him, surveying their temporary home. "Git. Not sayin' I'm forgivin' ya for draggin' me off but …" She sniffed. "Seems a decent sor' of place. They got proper plumbing at least."

The Doctor laughed. Coming from Jackie that was a compliment. "So then, agent says there are three bedrooms," he pointed up the stairs and then walked across the foyer, poking his head into random rooms. "Judging by that screen I'd say this one is meant to be the den - and yes, Jackie, I'll sonic it so you can watch Eastenders." He grinned at Jackie's squeal before tuning out her babble about there being no Eastenders on Pete's World and grabbing Rose's hand to continue his exploration.

"Dining Room, kitchen, breakfast nook with a great view of the beach." He dragged Rose across the kitchen and down a short hallway across from the back stairs. "Ooh, what's this?" He threw open the door and smiled. "The library! We have a library Rose!"

She laughed and followed him into the room. "Guess I know where you'll be holed up."

He wandered the room, taking in the overly wide sofa covered in something resembling leather and the bay window with its ocean view before stopping to admire the bookcases flanking a fireplace. He grinned and waggled his eyebrows at Rose. "Yep! I'll camp out in here, let you lot sort out the bedrooms –"he frowned as the baby Rose was still toting started to cry. "What's its problem then?"

Rose frowned as she removed the baby from the sling. "He's hungry and 'es not an it, Doctor. This is Jake, named after Jake Simmonds, you remember him, yeah? Helped us with the Cybermen?

He nodded. Yes! Jakey boy, good lad. Still saving the world I suppose?"

Not waiting for her response, he gestured toward Jake, rocking on his heels. "Nice to meet you Jake." He reached for Rose's hand. "Now let's drop him with Jackie and we'll go find Madrelass' version of take-away."

Rose ignored his hand, jostling and crooning to Jake for several minutes before meeting the Doctor's eyes. "Well, thing is … I mean, Mum has Tony to see to so –"

"Doc? Hey Doc! You back here?"

The Doctor scowled as Jack stuck his head around the door, Martha hovering just behind him. "What is it, Harkness?"

Jack flashed a smile then motioned to Martha. "Well, your companion says she's hungry." He shrugged and his smile turned downright wicked. "I offered suggestions on assuaging that but she said she wanted food –"

"Stop it, Jack!"

He smirked but the Doctor saw a hard glint in the Captain's eyes. The flirty demeanor, while still a part of the man, was now hiding something deeper, darker. The Doctor sighed. For as many questions as he had for Rose he guessed Jack Harkness had that many or more for him. He pursed his lips, knowing he couldn't escape providing those answers but figuring he might be able to prolong the inevitable.

"So then food, right?" He motioned for Rose to exit the room before him. "Let Rose drop little Jake off with Jackie and we'll all go back to town –"

"Uh, Doctor? I'm gonna stay here—"

He gaped. "But, but Rose," he was whining, knew it, but couldn't control it. "We always explore new places together –"

"I know Doctor but like I said, Jake needs to eat." She flashed her tongue touched smile and patted his arm. "You three go, oh and ask Mickey if he wants to tag along too! I'm gonna help Mum and Dad settle in, get the babies seen to …"

She started up the stairs, ignoring his noises of protest. Stopping on the landing she leaned over and smirked. "Stop you're whinging, Doctor. 'S Mum and Dad's first time out, they need a bit of TLC," her lips curved into a wicked grin and her eyes danced with merriment, "unless you'd rather I go with Jack and the others while you stay and handle the domestics …"

He shuddered then rolled his eyes as he realized what she'd done. "Threatening me with the dreaded D word, sneaky Tyler, sneaky." He motioned for Jack and Martha to head for the door, shouted for Mickey to join them, and then called back to Rose. "This planet's equivalent of Fish and Chips then?"

Her laugh echoed down the stairwell. "'Course! And see if you can find something resembling nappies. Oh, and we're gonna need some milk, close to a cow as you can get please … and tea! Tea and sugar and –"

"Domestics, Rose!" He shouted, but his tone was teasing.

"'S your comfort too, Doctor." He smiled at her sing-song reply and loped off to join the others. He strode out the door, realizing he was still grinning like a loon, when he caught Martha's perplexed look. He smiled at her and set off at a brisk trot. "Come on then, you lot! No time to waste, I've been given a list and a quest."

Martha caught up, casting sideways looks at him. "Out with it, Jones."

She gave a tentative laugh. "You're all, I mean, never seen you like this before –"

Mickey chuckled as he came to walk beside Martha. "Rose."

Martha frowned. "What?"

Mickey shrugged. "When The Doctor and Rose are together, 's like no one else is alive."

Jack leaned forward from The Doctor's left and laughed. "'S truth, and traveling with them was torture. All that unresolved sexual tension floating in the air …"

The Doctor huffed. "Right here, you know."

Irrepressible as ever, Jack continued. "Or did it finally explode? Come on Doc, tell me you two finally –"

"Aaand that's enough gossip." He sped up and entered a shop declaring itself a general grocery. "Faster if we split up. I'll try and fulfill Rose's supply list. You lot see if there's a take-away nearby. Preferably fish and chips." He handed a stack of paper to Jack, who nodded.

"Sure thing, Doc." He offered his arm to Martha. "Miss Jones, care to see the local color?"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Ah, I might need Martha, don't know what's what in the baby department. Take Mickey."

Jack just smirked, not even pretending he didn't know what the Doctor was doing. "Right then, Mr. Mickey let's go find some grub!"

He turned to Martha as the two men left, wondering how to broach the subject of Jack. "Aaah, Martha, about Jack." He tugged on his earlobe and sighed, hoping she didn't misinterpret what he was about to say. "The Captain is a …, he's a …"

Martha raised her eyebrows, a smile tugging at her lips. "A flirt?"

He laughed; glad she'd pegged Jack correctly. "Yeah, that's an understatement." He headed toward an aisle that seemed to hold products for babies, baby Madrelassians anyway. "Just wanted you to, you know be aware of –"

"Jealous Doctor?" Martha teased.

"What? No! No, that is, nothing to be jealous about."Ignoring the look on her face that reflected disappointment, and he definitely didn't want to dwell on why that might be, he blew out a breath and walked further down the aisle. "Just be aware of Harkness' love 'em and leave 'em philosophy and you'll be fine. He's a good man, a good friend, but …"

He rocked back on his heels, hands in pockets, and peered through his glasses at the bewildering assortment of things babies apparently needed. "Ah Martha? Can you …" he gestured to the packages in front of him. "Not really sure what human babies use for um, nappies, any idea which of these will suit?"

She shook her head, grinning as she joined him. "You're rubbish at domestic." She scanned the shelves, read the backs of several brands and then shoved a bright green box into his hands. "That one looks closest to what we have on Earth, though I'm not sure what kind of material it is. You'll have to see if it's safe for humans."

He nodded, read the ingredient list then set off to hunt for tea and accoutrements. "These'll do, at least for tonight. Rose can take Jackie shopping if she needs anything else." He quickly found a tea close enough to British black leaf to be palatable, a liquid sweetener similar to honey, and nareer milk. "That's the list sorted, let's pay and find Jack before he gets into trouble."

Martha grabbed the bottle of yellow liquid, frowning as she read the label. "What's a nareer then?"

He handed over payment, gathered his purchases, and nudged her toward the exit. "Ah, bit like a cow, well I say cow but in Earth comparison you'd think it looked more like a yak …" he caught her grimace and rushed on. "But the flavor of the milk is quite similar to cow's milk. Trust me, I wouldn't be bringing it back if it weren't." He laughed. "More than my life's worth if I ruin the taste of Rose and Jackie's cuppa."

Martha smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. He sighed but didn't comment. He knew she fancied him, couldn't help but know it but he'd kept hoping if he ignored it she'd give up and just take the friendship he'd offered. He also knew she was jealous of Rose. Humans! Always making things complicated.

Meeting up with Jack and Mickey, the Doctor continued to ruminate on the situation with Martha as they walked back to the villa. He hadn't cared before but now that Rose was back he couldn't allow the hostility to continue. He smirked, thinking of what the Tardis might do if he tried to bring two sparring females onto his ship.

He was about to file the whole topic under 'let Rose handle it' when he noticed Mickey chatting up, or trying to chat up Martha. He grinned. There might just be an easy solution after all.

Whistling, he ran up the steps, intending to tell Rose his brilliant plan while they ate, but Jackie met him at the door.

"Oh good, we're not half starved!" She took the bags from him and motioned for Jack and Mickey to deposit their loads in the dining room. "I'll just put these things in the kitchen, you lot get started eating."

The Doctor looked around the dining room and frowned. "Jackie? Where's Rose?"

Jackie re-entered the dining room carrying a stack of plates. "Oh, she's in the library. Here, I'll make your plates and you can join her."

He dutifully took the filled plates and stuffed two bottles of water into his coat pocket before asking, "Why's she in there?"

Jackie huffed and shooed him toward the back of the house. "Guess she wanted some time alone or something, but that don't include you and you know it so go on then, shift!"

He heard Pete scold his wife about something that included meddling before he rounded the corner to the back hallway.

He was just about to call out for Rose to open the door when the sound of her singing brought him up short. He'd never heard her sing; she had a lovely voice, husky but sweet. Wondering what occasion had warranted her singing, he set the plates down on a nearby table and quietly opened the door.

Rose's head jerked up, panic clear in her eyes. "Doctor!"

His mouth opened and closed but he could not make his brain function enough to form words. Realizing he was staring at her breast, he averted his eyes and managed to stammer, "You've um, Jake's yours then?"

"Yeah," She whispered. "I didn't mean for you to find out this wa—"

"Aah, I'll just … that is …" He dragged a hand through his hair and stepped back into the hallway. "You're busy, I'll … I'll see you – right." He managed to slam the door closed before his higher thought processes disintegrated.

Ignoring Rose's calls for him to stay, he strode passed the dining room and out the front door, heading for the beach, but his shaking legs gave out before he made it off the porch. Sinking onto the bottom step, he cupped his head in his hands and concentrated on regaining control of his suddenly traitorous body.

She'd moved on. She'd done what he'd asked her to and made a fantastic life for herself. She'd begun the one journey he never could and he'd wanted that for her so why, why did his hearts feel like they were lodged in his stomach? Why did he have to fight the urge to both cry and slam his fist through a wall?

He closed his eyes and sought to control the emotions threatening to swamp him. Breath by shuttering breath he calmed enough to kick start his addled brain. _You're a Time Lord for Rasillon's sake_, _she's just a human! _No! She was not just _anything._ She was Rose, _his_ Rose and no matter how much he scolded himself it didn't make the pain lessen. He'd lost her and the realization was breaking him, just as he'd always thought it would.

Lost in misery, he jumped when a hand fell upon his shoulder. Without looking, he mumbled. "Leave me alone."

A quiet chuckle brought his head up. He quirked an eyebrow as his eyes locked with those of Pete Tyler.

Pete smiled nervously. "Sorry mate, two Tyler women sent me to get you and, well," he shrugged. "That'd be double the slaps if I don't."

The Doctor snorted. "Pete, forgive me, but right now I don't care about the health of your cheeks."

Pete smirked and sat down beside him. "For what it's worth I was against it. Jacks shouldn't have –"

"Oh, I don't know," The Doctor drawled angrily. "I should be grateful to Jackie. The amount of secrets Rose is keeping I'd of not known until the boy was in college!"

Pete stiffened. "Hardly fair, Doctor. It's been all 'go, go' go' since we arrived in Cardiff –"

"Why did you?" Pete frowned. "I mean, Rose obviously had a life in your world and I know you and Jackie did, so why are all of you here?"

Pete sighed. "You need to ask Rose."

The Doctor snorted. "Who's the father? Obviously not Mickey, Jake's too pale – wait …" his brain quickly replayed the earlier conversation with Rose. "Jake Simmonds, her baby is named after him." Anger flared and he grit his teeth. "She left the father of her baby in a parallel world? Or did the bastard not want to come?"

"Doctor," Pete shook his head and stood. "You really need to stop jumping to conclusions and come talk to Rose."

The Doctor shook his head but got to his feet. "No Pete, what I really need to do is …" He started walking then picked up to a jog. Before his feet hit the sand he was running.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Genius? Not So Much

Rose turned as the library door opened. She sighed and finished placing pillows around the baby sleeping on the floor when she saw it was her parents and not the Doctor. "He's done a runner, hasn't he?"

"Oh sweetheart!" Jackie sobbed and started toward Rose. "I'm so sorry, I …"

Rose shooed her parents out of the library and closed the door. "No, you shouldn't have, Mum, but what's done is done. Keep an ear out in case Jake wakes up, 'k?"

Pete nodded but Jackie grabbed Rose's arm as she walked toward the foyer. "Rose, where are you –"

Rose smirked. "After the git, of course."

"But Rose! He could be anywhere and it's dark, it's …, it's, we're on an alien planet!"

Rose laughed and shook her Mum's hand off. "Been on plenty of alien planets before Mum, and I'm sure the Doctor hasn't gone far –"

"How can you be sure, Rose?" Pete asked.

Rose sighed. "Only thing I'm always sure of about the Doctor, Dad. He takes his responsibilities seriously, too seriously sometimes, and to him? He's responsible for all of us, he won't have gone far."

With another reminder to watch out for her son, Rose set off across the small yard, heading for the beach. She walked straight to the tide line and stopped, searching for a clue to which direction she should take. Seeing no footprints she decided to try opening her mind as she'd done to make the jump from Pete's World.

Clutching her Tardis key, Rose closed her eyes and clamped down on every thought but one. She formed a mental picture of him and started thinking Doctor, over and over. She was starting to feel silly when she felt a strong urge to turn right followed by an image of the Doctor perched on a cluster of rocks surrounded by pounding waves. Going on faith in whatever was giving her the strange ability, Rose took off walking.

Twenty minutes later she rounded a bend and saw the blue light of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver dancing across the water. Smiling, she broke into a trot and minutes later reached the spot she'd seen in her mind.

Elation turned to irritation as she realized the rock the Doctor was seated upon was surrounded by water. Looking closer, she noticed clusters of rocks lay just beneath the foaming surf, forming a meandering path. The water didn't look that deep but she didn't relish sitting around in wet clothes so she stripped off her jeans and tied them around her neck.

Stepping into the surf, she gasped as the cool water hit her bare legs but continued wading out until her feet found purchase on the rock path. Toes curling to grip the algae slickened stones, she made her way across and climbed onto the boulder occupied by her stubborn Time Lord.

She flopped down beside him and stared out at the water, admiring the play of light cast by the planet's twin moons as it danced across the waves while she waited for her legs to dry. Her teeth began to chatter and she decided jeans were necessary, dry legs or not.

Jeans freed from her neck, she stood and balanced on one foot, wrestling the narrow cut denim over her clammy skin. A series of waves battered their perch and Rose yelped as she lost her footing.

The Doctor's hand closed around her wrist in a vice like grip and he yanked her down onto his lap. "Bloody little fool." He ground out through clenched teeth.

Rose smirked and tried to wriggle the jeans over her hips. "So you're talkin' to me now?"

His only answer was to tighten his grip and pull her closer to his chest.

Rose huffed. "Mind, I'm not complain' about the seat but can ya help me get my clothes on?"

He quirked an eyebrow but made no move to help her.

Rose nudged his shoulder with her chin and whispered through trembling lips. "Quit bein' a prat, Doctor, 's cold."

He sighed, pushed her until she was lying across his lap, yanked her jeans up and fastened them, and then returned her to the cradle of his arms not uttering a word.

The absurdity of the situation suddenly hit Rose and she began to giggle which turned into a full belly laugh as a look of irritation and then bewilderment spread across his face.

"What is so funny, Ms. Tyler?" He smirked. "Or is it Mrs. Simmonds?"

Her amusement fled. "What? Why, would you ask that?"

He snorted. "So he didn't think enough of you to share his name or did you even tell him he was a father?"

Rose gasped as realization dawned. "You think, you think Jake, my son Jake, is Jake Simmonds' child?"

The Doctor looked down his nose at her, Time Lord arrogance written in every line of his face. "Genius Rose, wasn't that hard to deduce."

_Genius? Not so much_. Rose bit back the caustic retort begging to fall from her lips and counted to ten, reminding herself that her Doctor was hurting, he didn't handle emotions well and being snarky with him would not help the situation.

She took a deep breath and stared out at the ocean. "Doctor, I didn't name my Jake after Jake Simmonds because he was the father, I did it because …, because without Jake Simmonds I and my baby wouldn't be alive."

He stiffened. "What? Why? What happened?"

Tears welled and then streaked down her cheeks but she met his eyes. "It's a long story Doctor and it's part of why my family and I left that universe." She drew a shaky breath. "Can we …, can we please talk about that later? "

He wiped her cheeks and then cupped her face in his hands. "I'm sorry to make you cry, Rose, but I'm tired of waiting for answers and now is a perfect time to talk; we're alone and in no danger of being interrupted."

Rose gulped and nodded. "I agree, but I'd rather talk about something more important, if you don't mind …"

"What's more important than that?"

Her lips curved into a slight smile. "Um …how about the fact that you're no longer the Last of the Time Lords?"

"What?"

Her smile widened. "You're not the last any more, you're the first. Doctor, Jake is _your_ son."

A light seemed to spark in his deep chocolate eyes but it faded quickly, replaced by wistfulness and his voice was tinged with sadness when he spoke. "That isn't possible, Rose, Time Lords haven't reproduced sexually for centuries; we're sterile not to mention the problems with genetic compatibility."

She shrugged and cupped his cheek. "Gonna buy you a dictionary cuz you keep using that word and I do not think it means what you think it means."

He smiled. "Oh, I think the definition still stands, precious girl, I just don't think it can be applied to you." He sighed. "But in this case, it really is impossible, Rose."

Rose bit her lip. It did sound impossible going by his reasoning but it had happened, her adorable baby boy was living proof, so what was making him continue to deny the obvious? Her stomach clenched. Perhaps he didn't want it to be true; he hated domestics after all. Maybe … maybe this was his way of avoiding – No!

She shook her head and banished the negative thoughts. She'd clearly seen that flicker of happiness when she'd first told him, heard the sadness when he said it wasn't possible.

"Doctor … I know you really think it isn't possible but it is, I promise!" She gripped his arm, willing him to believe, to allow himself to accept the miracle.

His lips brushed the top of her head and his arms tightened around her even as he shook his head. "It would be … it would be brilliant if it were true but …"

Her heart warmed that he thought the concept of children with her was brilliant but his continued resistance to believing they actually had a child pushed her patience to the limit. Rose huffed. "Doctor. I _know_ Jake is your son. There isn't any way he could be anyone _but_ yours unless you find it easier to believe in Immaculate Conception!"

She glared at him, waiting for him to grasp what she was implying. She smirked when realization dawned. "Finally." She drawled. "Ya see? Impossible or not by your Time Lord logic, we have a son."

She searched his face and saw he was still not allowing himself to fully accept the truth. Rolling her eyes, she wiggled until he released her and got to her feet. "Come on, I can tell that big ol' genius brain of yours is still doubting." She held out her hand and, when he finally entwined his fingers with hers, pulled him to his feet. "Let's go meet your son."

The walk back to the villa had been quick but still gave The Doctor time to ponder the impossibility of Rose's announcement and now, quietly walking through the darkened house, he slowed his pace to a crawl, wondering what to say to Rose.

He didn't think she'd lied to him when she'd implied there had been no one else, but far more than science was telling him this child couldn't be his. If the baby was truly his he would know it, he would have sensed the child in his mind the minute he appeared in this universe; and that had not happened.

The flip side of his reasoning, and one he found more disturbing, was that he had fathered the child but that it was more human than Gallifreyan. That possibility was the most likely even though Gallifreyan DNA should have dominated the inferior human contributions. Acknowledging that this must be the case, he found himself reluctant to accept the child into his life and more importantly, his hearts.

Bad enough he'd allowed himself to love Rose but to face losing both Rose and their child in what to him was a blink of an eye? He dragged his hands through his hair and groaned. It was an impossible situation.

He followed Rose into the library, schooling his features as she came toward him with the baby in her arms. He smiled at the image. She was a natural mother and with her boundless love and compassion he had never doubted that she would be, guilt stabbed at him as he admitted to himself that the baby would likely not also benefit from a natural father.

Clamping down on his wayward thoughts, he forced himself to take the baby from Rose. He studied the infant's features, a smile tugging at his lips as he took in the wild shock of chestnut hair and dark brown eyes … he blinked and looked at Rose.

"He's awake, wide awake and looking at me. I thought all human babies this young did was eat and sleep …"

Rose laughed. "They do, well Tony was like that 'cept when he was cryin' fit to shake the house down, and he's not that young, a little over three months old, he's just a bit little, though I don't know why since his appetite is as hearty as yours!"

She grabbed his arm and led him to the couch. "But Jake's a great baby," she leaned over and nuzzled Jake's cheek, "aren't ya? Mummy's precious boy."

Rose sat back and smiled at him. "He hardly ever cries and usually doesn't sleep more than five hours a day." She shrugged. "'S normal for a Time Lord, yeah?"

He gulped, handed Jake back to Rose, and started to pace. "It … it, uh probably is normal for Gallifreyan babies, don't really know as I wasn't around many of them, but the thing is …" he turned and met her eyes.

"Jake isn't Gallifreyan, or not enough for it to matter anyway, I can't be sure until I've done some genetic testing but I'm 98.356% sure he doesn't have enough of my TNA to exhibit anything but the most rudimentary of Gallifreyan traits."

He swallowed hard and forced himself to continue. "Thing is Rose, Jake isn't a Time Tot." He held up his hand when she started to speak. "I'm not doubting you Rose. I never did really, you'd never lie to me, and the little beggar looks a lot like me," He tugged on his earlobe and averted his eyes.

"Thing is, you see … I'd know if the baby was a Time Lord, well more accurate to say had the potential to become a Time Lord, and … well he doesn't."

Rose bit her lip. "Doctor, why, I mean … how would you know that without that testin' stuff?"

He sighed and sat next to her, grasping her hand. "My people, I told you we were telepathic, yes?" At her nod, he continued. "Well, all Time Lords were connected, telepathically, we were always aware of other Time Lords in our mind." He stroked the wide eyed baby's cheek with his finger, drawing a deep breath to try and keep the sadness and disappointment from his voice.

"I can't, there is no connection with the little one's mind." He squeezed Rose's hand but couldn't meet her eyes. "He's not, I mean …" He huffed, irritated with himself that he couldn't get the words out. "He's not a potential Time Lord."

"Oh!" Rose gasped. "I'm so stupid!"

He jerked his head up, confused by her reaction. "What?"

Rose ignored him, bending over the baby and placing her fingertips upon his temples. "Been doin' it so long, well I just forgot it was there, yeah? Give me a mo' …" A heartbeat later, Rose sat back and beamed at him. "Better now?"

"Wha—?" His mouth fell open as, for the first time in longer than he cared to calculate, the consciousness of a Gallifreyan mind gently probed his own. Tears streamed from his eyes as he took the infant, his son, into his arms. He clutched the tiny boy close to his chest and simply let the emotions overwhelm him.

Minutes, hours, days? He wasn't sure how long and for once he didn't care to know, he communed with his son before he felt Rose shake his shoulder.

He slumped into the corner of the couch and met Rose's eyes. "Rose, he's just, I'm …my beautiful Rose, thank you." He leaned in and brushed her lips with his own.

Rose grinned and stroked Jake's head of wild hair. "'S me should be thankin' you, Doctor. Bein' pregnant with him, havin' him? Was the only thing that kept me goin' in that bloody world."

Noticing that Rose was fighting to keep her eyes open and his son had already lost the battle, The Doctor took the baby back to his improvised bed and then turned to grin at Rose. "That's my son sorted, now it's his Mum's turn."

He pulled a protesting Rose to her feet and tried to lead her from the room. "Come on, sleepy Rose, let's get you to a bedroom."

She dug her heels in and shook her head. "Don't have one, Doctor. I gave the third bedroom to Martha." She wriggled from his hold and flopped back onto the couch. "'S'okay if I stay with you?" Not waiting for his answer, she stretched out and turned onto her side, facing the back of the couch. "Know you don't sleep much but there's plenty of room …"

Needing no further encouragement, he slipped off his shoes and jacket and then joined her, pulling a blanket off the back of the couch before curving his body around Rose's back.

He stroked her hair, lulled by her breathing settling into the rhythm of deep sleep. The day had been eventful and emotional enough that his body cried out for him to follow Rose's example but his mind was still processing.

So much had happened in less than one full Earth day. An irrational part of him wanted to resist sleep in fear that it had all been a dream. His Impossible Girl had returned to him and she'd brought him a son! Relishing the feel of the sleeping time tot's consciousness filling the emptiness of his mind, it was several minutes before The Doctor's exhausted brain reminded him that Rose had somehow been shielding his son's mind.

How had she done it? He sighed. Yet another question. The warmth of her body relaxing him, he allowed his eyes to close and his brain to quiet. Drifting into sleep, his last thought was that tomorrow he would get his answers and solve the mystery that was Rose Tyler.


	7. Chapter 7 Mending Fences

Rose stumbled into the kitchen and half-heartedly searched for something resembling a kettle while she probed her mental link with her son. Smiling at the emotions that surged through the bond, she set about making tea while wondering what The Doctor was doing or saying to their baby that had him so happy and content.

Rose settled in the breakfast room sipping her tea and watching the waves crash to shore. She yawned and stretched until her spine popped feeling as content as her son. Content and safe; two things she'd almost lost hope of ever experiencing again.

She absently followed the antics of some bright yellow shore birds while her mind drifted. She'd told The Doctor about Jake and, when all was said and done The Doctor had accepted his son.

She was overjoyed and, truth be told, relieved that he seemed to be taking to fatherhood with little hesitation, his wandering off with her son before she'd even awakened proving that Rose's fears of The Doctor rejecting the 'domestics' of parenting were unfounded.

She frowned as the scene from last night replayed. She hadn't missed his hesitation to accept Jake before discovering he was in fact a Time Tot. What was that all about? Would he not have accepted … she shook the thought away, no since pondering, she'd simply ask him later.

More puzzling right now was where she would fit in with this new relationship. Would he want to be a 'proper' family unit? She knew he cared for her, knew he was happy to have her back even. What she didn't know and had no clue how to ask was how did he see their future? They'd had a baby together yes, but one night of unbelievable sex after nearly dying by the hands of an evil dictator on Niral IV didn't a solid romantic relationship make.

She snorted and poured herself a second cup of tea. She'd been an idiot. They'd never spoken of that night and the following day she'd followed his lead and pretended it never happened, allowing him to continue to define the terms of their relationship. She'd thought there would be time.

She smiled, remembering their trip to Xanalthrok. Standing on that windswept cliff, watching dragonish creatures float overhead against the backdrop of a red sky he'd asked her how long she would stay with him and she'd promised him forever.

He'd smiled, kissed her chastely, and told her he'd be honored to have her forever. The day had been perfect, she'd felt like it was the beginning of a change in their relationship and maybe it would have been but she'd never know now. Torchwood had seen to that.

The banging of a door followed by the entirely too early in the morning to be so cheerful voice of Jack Harkness shook her from her musings. Rose smiled as Jack, Martha, and Mickey entered the kitchen carrying bags of something Rose could only hope tasted as good as it smelled.

"What have you intrepid travelers been up to so early?"

Jack smiled. "Ah, Rosie my love, we've procured breakfast."

Rose's stomach growled as he lifted the paper from an assortment of pastries. "Oooh, criflore berry muffins! Hand one over before The Doctor gets back or I'll have to fight for them."

Jack laughed and handed her one and then winked at Martha. "Didn't I tell you, Miss Jones?" He offered her one of the bright green and black pastries. "The Doc was addicted to these little beauties and Rose, as always, followed his lead."

Martha pushed the proffered baked good away and reached for a more Earth looking confection. "You're saying The Doctor, The DOCTOR's taste should be accounted as normal? You forget, Jack, I've traveled with Himself for a long time, I mean, honestly, green and black?" She shuddered.

Mickey laughed and sank onto the seat beside Martha, bumping her shoulder. "You're a woman after my own heart, babe. Glad there's at least one female who can travel with 'im and still see his faults."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Mickey Smith, you know perfectly well that I –"

"Yeah, yeah, Rose." He winked at her and started eating.

Rose rolled her eyes and turned to Martha. The woman seemed a little less hostile today, at least with Jack and Mickey. It was prudent to get to know a fellow companion if only for less tension in the Tardis but Rose admitted to herself that she was curious about what The Doctor had been doing and, knowing the Time Lord's reticence she'd get more from Martha.

"So Martha, what was your first adventure with –"Rose winced as a piercing wail shot through her skull. She shook her head and smiled at Martha. "Sorry, duty calls. Maybe we can go shop—"

"Rose!" The door slammed open and rubber soles pounded down the hallway accompanied by the squalls of her son. "Rooose, where are you?"

"Breakfast room." She called out while getting to her feet. She laughed at the look on his face as they met in the archway.

He grimaced and held Jake out to her. "I don't know what's wrong, we were strolling along the shore as I told him about the migrating habits of the Yellow Winged Didimus bird versus those of the –"

"He's hungry Doctor. You were babbling and didn't listen so he shouted to me, in here!" She tapped her temple absently while whispering to Jake. "I know you're hungry but you'll get a stomach ache if you try to nurse while screaming –"Rose grinned at The Doctor when their Time Tot promptly quieted.

His mouth dropped open and then morphed into a beaming grin. "Blimey, you're amazing! Hungry, right! So am I, now I think of it." He strolled past her into the Breakfast Nook. "Oooh, criflore berry muffins!" He shoved two into his mouth and continued, "Rose, hurry up and feed my son and then we'll go exploring. I want to show him the -"

"Your WHAT?"

Rose smirked at the shocked expression on Jack's face, ignoring the hard one on Martha's. She headed to the library. "Oncoming Babble strikes again. This is on you, Doctor, you spilled, you explain!"

Rose settled at the bay window and watched as her son greedily filled his stomach. She stroked her fingers through the dark brown fuzz so like his father's and wondered if life could be more perfect.

The sound of clapping hands jerked her eyes to the now open door. She frowned, wondering if Martha Jones had been infected with an alien parasite or was just clinically insane. _Well, she traveled with The Doctor so …_

"Something I can help you with?"

Martha smirked and stepped farther into the room. "You are some piece of work."

Rose blinked. "What?" Her arms tightened around Jake. "You feelin' all right?"

Martha snorted. "Feel fine, thanks." Her eyes narrowed. "Drop the act, girlie, I'm no besotted alien –"

"What the hell are you on about –"

"Oh please. You've managed to fool The Doctor, and I still haven't figured out how, but you're not fooling me."

Rose stiffened. Jake whimpered and his distress filtered through their link.

Drawing a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down and reassured her son. Once the baby settled at her breast, Rose glared at Martha.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about but you're upsetting my son, and like his father you really don't want to see him angry."

Martha smirked. "You really think I'm buying this?" She waved a hand to indicate Rose and Jake. "How stupid do you think I am? There is no way that is The Doctor's son –"

"How dare you? You know nothing about me or my relationship with The Doctor and furthermore, what business is it of yours?"

Martha glared at Rose and her lips curled into a snarl. "I know plenty about you, I'm a doctor. See your type every day, besides, Jack and Mickey like to talk about you."

Rose's mouth fell open. "My … my type?"

"Chav from the council estate?" She snorted. "So, I figure you leave The Doctor for some bloke who gets you knocked up and then abandons you so you come crawling back to the Tardis with this idiotic plan to convince The Doctor that baby is his." She shook her head. "Did you even do the math? I've been traveling with The Doctor for almost a year and I know he traveled alone for about three months before I met him! That baby is no more than two months old … God! How dumb are you?"

Fury swept through Rose, blinding her even to Jake's distress. She started to stand, intent upon delivering a monumental Tyler slap to the bitch standing in front of her when the key around her neck began to warm and the chimes of the Tardis filled her mind. She tried to shake them away but the volume increased, swamping her thoughts and forcing Rose to close her eyes.

Images flashed through her mind. Martha performing resuscitation on her Doctor, Martha saving the Doctor on a space station. Images and emotions continued to fly by. Martha dressed as a maid, working in a shop, on the Tardis leaving food outside The Doctor's door, trying to coax him to smile –The images faded with the melody, taking her anger with them.

Crying, Rose met Martha's eyes. "Oh Martha! Thank you, thank you so much! I …" she swiped at her wet cheeks and drew a shuddering breath. "I'm so sorry for how he's treated you! You didn't deserve that –"

"What? What are you on about?"

Rose shook her head. "I … I know how hard he's been to live with since I've been gone and I …" she looked out the window, gathering her thoughts. "Let me finish feeding Jake and then we'll talk, yeah?" At Martha's hesitant nod, Rose smiled. "You deserve some answers and most definitely an apology from that git of a Time Lord."

Martha didn't return Rose's smile but some of the hardness left her face. Rose figured it was a start. "Close the door behind you, yeah? And Martha?" Martha turned back, eyebrow quirked in question. "This conversation never happened, all right? The Doctor … it wouldn't be pretty if he knew what was just said."

Martha swallowed hard, nodded, and left the room.

*** The Doctor bounced his son absently as he stood at the window wondering what the two women huddled on the sand were discussing so intently. It was never good when companions got together, good for him anyway, but these two? He shivered and wondered when the proverbial fur would fly.

"Huh …" He blinked as Rose and Martha suddenly jumped up, hugged, and then started back toward the house. "Well would you look at that?" He murmured to Jake. "Don't know why I'm surprised, your Mum always had a way with people, Martha is no exception apparently. Glad of that. Load off of my mind Jakey boy, let me tell you. The thought of the two of them holed up on the Tardis, me in the middle -"

"Don't listen to him, Jake, between two women is –"

"Stop it, Jack!"

"What? The boy will need an education on the ways of women and his Uncle Jack is the best man for the job." Jack smirked.

The Doctor's eyebrows rose to his hair line. "You … you will not – no corrupting my son, Jack!"

Jack laughed, chucked Jake under the chin and then pointed at the two laughing women walking across the beach. His face had lost all amusement as he looked The Doctor in the eye. "Seems those two have had a long talk and come to some agreement, think it's time we did the same."

The Doctor sighed. He'd known it was coming but … "Yep, guess you want to know why you can't die."

Jack's mouth dropped open. "You, you know about that?"

"Mmm, have done from the moment it happened." He pinched the bridge of his nose and then sat on the window seat. "Sit down Captain, it's a long story."

He explained to Jack about fixed points and the grating it placed on his time senses, though he absently wondered why his son showed no signs of distress at Jack's presence, and he apologized repeatedly for leaving Jack on the space station. "I really am sorry Jack. I was regenerating and I had to be in the Tardis and you were wreaking havoc on my senses … by the time I recovered from regeneration you were already part of established events and I couldn't pull you from that time stream without –"

"I understand, Doc." Jack snorted. "Won't say it doesn't hurt but I understand."

He stood, pacing a bit before spinning around. "What I don't understand is how I got to be a 'fixed' point."

The Doctor sighed. "Rose." He closed his eyes, seeing again, Rose in all her Golden Goddess glory. Feeling his terror, his horror – "You are immortal because of Rose, Jack."

"What?" A gasp from across the room had both men jumping. The Doctor's heart pounded and his stomach clenched as he took in the pale face and wide eyes of his Rose. _Rasillon, he hadn't ever wanted her to know …_

"Doctor?" He heaved breath into tight lungs and met her eyes. "I heard … what did you … how is Jack immortal?"

He held his hand out to her and smiled when she didn't hesitate. Seating her beneath the circle of his arm he squeezed lightly and then looked at Jack. "I hadn't ever wanted …" he dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment and then straightened his shoulders.

"Right then, what do you remember about Satellite 5, Rose?"

She blinked. "Um, Daleks …, Delta Waves, and you tricking me into going home that's about – no, wait! I, I remember singing, it was the Tardis, same as it is now –"

"What do you mean, now?"

Rose closed her eyes and bit her lip. Minutes passed before her eyes opened. Tears streamed down her face as she ran to Jack and pulled him into a tight hug. "That's what those swirling golden threads are! 'S why the Tardis was so afraid - oh, oh Jack, I'm so so sorry!"

The Doctor jumped up, placing his son on the floor before grabbing Rose's arm and forcing her to turn toward him. "What threads? How can you see those?" He gripped her arm tighter, fear coursing through him. "Right before we crashed! I remember you talking to the Tardis, you knew what was wrong but you can't possibly know!"

Rose's mouth opened and closed but no sound emerged. Her eyes were glowing a faint gold and she looked dazed, as if she were locked in a dream. He shook her. "Rose! Answer me, now. ROSE!"

Her eyes closed and then opened to reveal her normal whiskey brown orbs. The Doctor pulled her into a tight hug, relief making his legs weak. "Rasillon, Rose!"

"Uh, not to interrupt but what the hell was that all about?"

The Doctor continued to watch Rose as he answered. "I sent Rose away, I wanted her safe. She …" he gulped and stroked a finger down her soft cheek. "She came back. Opened the heart of the Tardis, absorbed the Vortex, and flew back to me."

"Wha …? That's not good, am I right?"

The Doctor chuckled but he felt anything but amused. He looked at Jack and nodded. "No, Captain, it is bad with a capital "B". She wiped out the Daleks with a wave of her hand and brought you back to life, apparently a little too well but she was new to being a Goddess so don't hold it against her. Trouble was, she couldn't let go of the power and it was … burning her, body and mind. I took it from her, which is why I regenerated."

He looked at Rose, worried about how she was taking everything and to his surprise she didn't appear to be shocked at all. He frowned. "Rose, this isn't news to you, is it?"

Her lips quirked. "No, it was until a few minutes ago, well some of it was … I didn't know about bringing Jack back or killing the Daleks, but I … I've had a few dreams about opening the Tardis –"

The Doctor's mouth dropped open. He swallowed several times before he could form words. "Dreams? What kind of dreams?" He paced, rubbing the back of his neck and tugging on his earlobe. "You shouldn't be able to remember. I wiped those memories, or I thought I had –"

"You what?"

He winced as both Jack and Rose yelled at him.

"You would have burned, Rose. Even remembering could have damaged your mind."

She shook her head. "Then why didn't it?"

His eyes narrowed as he studied her and mentally flipped through the myriad questions he'd accumulated since Rose had arrived. Communicating with his ship not to mention shielding and being mentally linked with their son, apparently seeing the twisted time lines surrounding Jack, not to mention her crossing the void … he sighed. Lots of puzzle pieces but no clear picture. He clapped his hands together and plopped down onto the couch, pulling Rose with him. "Right then, I think it is time for some answers, Rose Tyler, so start at the beginning."

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this tale. I would answer everyone individually but I haven't managed to figure out how :)


	8. Chapter 8: Trial By Fire

Rose chewed the tip of her thumb nail and watched as her mother settled onto the floor with Tony and Jake while Pete sat on the window seat and Mickey chose to be near Martha. She'd of grinned at the possibilities sparking off that choice, if she weren't so scared.

The Doctor was pacing, impatient for answers but Rose was adamant that everyone be present and Jack was taking his own sweet time, bless him.

She jumped as The Doctor flopped down beside her. "Now then, Rose Tyler," he looked to where Jack now leaned against the mantel. "Everyone is assembled so …"

Rose glanced at her family then cleared her throat. "Where, uh where should I begin?"

The Doctor huffed. "Begin at the beginning, Rose."

She rolled her eyes and smirked as Jack caught her action and laughed. "Of course, how logical, Doctor." Her amusement faded and her throat went dry at the thought of her time on Pete's World. She took a sip of tea and then straightened her spine. She could do this, maybe.

"After … after we said good-bye, I continued working for Torchwood." She resolutely pushed aside the painful events on Bad Wolf Bay and forced herself to continue. "Defender of Earth, remember?"

The Doctor nodded.

"It, uh … wasn't like this universe's Torchwood, least not at first," she mumbled. "I was on Mickey's team and Pete was Director. We … we were, you know, defendin' Earth and all and then about a month after we … after Norway, just after we stopped the Trevotians from invadin' …"

"Trevotians?" Jack sputtered. "You fought off the Trevotians?"

Rose nodded.

Jack looked at her, then Mickey and Pete. "I'm seriously impressed. Awed really. Tough bastards, vicious and nearly impossible to kill! What weapons did you use, how did you —"

"Jack, focus."

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry Doc, go on Rose."

She flashed him a smile. "Right … well we were supposed to have a few days off after all of that but I —"

"She went in to work anyway. Never stopped until she physically had to —"

"Mickey! You know why! I'm sorry, if I could change -"

"Yeah, babe, I do. Sorry, it's not your fault. No one blames you …"

Rose bowed her head and twisted her fingers. "Should do …" she whispered but The Doctor stiffened and she knew he'd heard her. He pulled her hand into his lap, stroking her palm in soft circles.  
"All right?" He murmured.

Rose squeezed his hand and shook her head. "No but best get it over with, yeah?"

She drew a deep breath. "So, I went back into work and, well all I really know is I hadn't been feeling well for months but it was off and on so I … I don't know, just figured it was exhaustion or something. Anyway, they told me later I passed out but whatever happened, I woke up in the Torchwood Medbay."

Pete cleared his throat. "If I may?"

Rose and The Doctor nodded.

"Rose is correct, she fainted and was taken to the medical ward. I was at home and by the time Jacks and I arrived they had already started testing." He dragged a hand down his face and then looked at Rose. "I'm sorry sweetheart, if only we'd been able to stop them —"

"No Dad. Like Mickey said, I don't blame you or Mum. We …, none of us knew so …"

Pete gulped and exhaled roughly. "Yes, well like I said, they'd already run some tests, didn't tell us much, just said they were keeping her for observation and in quarantine under suspicion of contact with something alien."

He snorted. "At the time we had no reason to doubt them." He met The Doctor's eyes, his expression remorseful. "I'm sorry, we … we didn't know, didn't think to question …"

"They let us see Rose a couple of times a day, but only through glass. We could talk to her but, like Pete said, we didn't suspect and Rose was weak, could only stay awake a few minutes at a time and she was throwin' up … she looked awful …" Jackie sniffed and swiped at her eyes. "I thought my baby girl was dyin', Doctor, dyin' from some horrible alien disease. We thought Torchwood was her only hope."

The Doctor nodded. "They'd discovered Rose's pregnancy, hadn't they."

Rose bit back a sob. "Yeah … they …" she shuddered. "They kept me drugged so I don't know a lot of what happened." She looked at Mickey and Pete. "They know more about what happened after that than I do."

Mickey leaned forward, hands clasped between his legs. "Like Pete and Jackie said, weren't none of us suspicious. I mean, seems stupid now, knowin' what we do, but Rose said you two weren't … nobody suspected she was pregnant." He shrugged. "Torchwood was clever. They let us see her, speak to her, even though she couldn't say much, they strung us along, sayin' they were isolatin' the virus, the treatments were workin', stuff like that."

Pete snorted. "All the while they had a plan." He grimaced and shook his head. "And we all fell for it." He looked at Rose and then The Doctor. "I may have been Director but I answered to a Board of Directors and some of the board were made aware of Rose's pregnancy … that's when they went … rogue I guess you could say."

He sighed. "Seems incredible that we could be so ignorant, like Mickey said, we should have known … they, uh … they lured Mickey's team out on an assignment in France at the same time that they knew I was attending a conference in Scotland and had taken Jacks with me."

Pete moved to sit beside Rose, taking her other hand. "Getting rid of her family, they moved her and then blew up the ward she was housed in."

The Doctor gasped but didn't interrupt.

"They faked her death. Like we said, they were clever. We held a funeral, mourned, everything you'd expect. "He looked over at Jackie. "None of us were thinking straight and Jackie was pregnant too. The stress of believing she'd lost Rose made her blood pressure rise, she started having complications …" He sighed. "We were distracted and grieving. If it weren't for Jake Simmonds …"

"Rose said she named our son after him, that if not for him she and the baby wouldn't be alive."

"Rose's right, Boss." Mickey said. "We'd of never looked for her," He glanced at Rose who nodded that it was all right. "Really thought she was dead, ya know? But Jake, he was a team leader, same as me, he ended up injured and on light duty so they put him in the security offices."

He chuckled. "Pure dumb luck and maybe some of his natural paranoia with authority …" he shrugged. "He was workin' in there for about three weeks when paperwork crossed his desk concerning a Torchwood auxiliary research facility in North London. Don't know what made Jake suspicious, never had a chance to ask him, but somethin' must not have sat right with him 'cuz he decided to take a look."

Mickey gestured to Rose, who nodded and picked up the tale. "They kept me drugged." She drew several deep breaths. "I wasn't totally aware of where I was or who had me … didn't know much of anything really, 'cept I was pregnant and there were endless tests."

She chuckled without much amusement. "My brain was so frazzled I didn't even wonder how I was pregnant." She snorted. "Felt like I was in a constant dream …"she looked over at Pete.

"Dad and Mickey think they were givin' me some hallucinogen R & D was workin' on, somethin' discovered through alien contact …" she shrugged. "Doesn't matter now I suppose. Anyway, I was probably about six months pregnant, not really sure but I wasn't that big …"

She waved her hand. "Not important I guess. I'm not really clear on what happened except that one night my cell door opened and Jake Simmonds was creepin' in and draggin' me out of there. We had to go through some woods and Jake kept sayin' something about the Preachers were waitin' —"

Her hands started to shake as the library faded from view. Tears filled her eyes as memories and emotions pulled her into the nightmare.

She is cold and her feet are bare. Rocks, pine needles, sticks, whatever is on the ground is rough and sharp. They are running and her arms and face are bleeding and raw as they race through brush and overgrown woodlands. Her heart is pounding, lungs burning but the man beside her …, Jake?

She focuses her bleary eyes and yes, yes it is Jake, he is pulling her and urging her to go faster so she does. But her head is swimming and she can't quite remember which aliens they've been fighting that makes them have to run but she knows to be terrified.

Voices behind them, getting closer. Her legs are protesting, she can't go much farther. Oh, thank God, Jake says not too far. Relief floods through her even as she pushes herself to run faster.

A vehicle races towards them, lights out but she can hear the engine. She ducks but keeps running as gunfire erupts. Bullets are churning up sod and colliding with metal as the van skids to a stop. Oh God, they've caught up!

A woman screams at her. Hands are shoving her into the van. Jake! Hurry get in … she turns to see Jake returning fire on their pursuers. He is shouting for the van to go: NO!

His body shaking and twisting as a barrage of bullets cut into him …

"Rose …" Hands on her shoulders, shaking her, calling her name … "ROSE!"

Rose blinked and found herself cradled in The Doctor's arms. She sobbed, clinging to him, burying her face in his chest and trying to get even closer as he murmured words of comfort.

He rocked her for several minutes before whispering in her ear. "That's enough. "

Rose shook her head and tried to sit up but his arms tightened and his finger rested on her temple. "Sleep, Rose."

*****

He wiped the tears from her cheeks and stroked the hair away from her flushed cheeks. _Rasillon! What have I done?_ His precious girl should never have —

"Doctor?"

His head snapped up to find Jackie kneeling beside him.

"What's wrong with Rose?"

He looked at Rose and shook himself. "Nothing Jackie, she's just sleeping." He forced himself to meet Jackie's eyes. "She was, she was reliving the experience … I just gave her a telepathic suggestion to sleep."

Jackie frowned at him. "She won't like ya muckin' about in her head …"

He got to his feet and looked down at Rose sleeping in his arms. He sighed. "It wasn't — it was just a nudge and I won't apologize for it. Her body was reacting to the fear … she needed to rest." He looked around, wondering where to place Rose when Martha cleared her throat.

"Um, she gave me the bedroom but …" she shrugged. "Why don't you take it? She and the baby need it more than I do. I can sleep in here …"

The Doctor smiled. "Thank you, Martha." He started from the room but turned to look at Pete. "Can we continue this conversation after I see to Rose? I'd like to hear the rest or at least as much as all of you know and … it would be better if Rose doesn't have to —"

"Absolutely, Doctor. We'll be here."

The Doctor nodded and strode from the room.

He tucked Rose under the duvet and hurried back down the stairs, his thoughts whirling with everything that she'd told him but even more dismayed by what had happened when she fell into her memories.

He paused outside of the library door to compose himself. He'd been bombarded with glimpses of what Rose was seeing, worse, he'd felt every emotion that she had experienced. It was almost as if she'd pulled him into her mind … he shook his head. It was a ridiculous idea; she didn't have that ability, or shouldn't have it.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and promised himself answers to Rose's unexplained abilities when she awoke, for now he'd settle for hearing about the rest of her trials in Pete's world.

He sat back on the couch and looked at Pete. "So, I owe Jake Simmonds …"

Pete nodded. "He died saving her and the baby. We … we never found his body but one of the Preachers stayed behind and saw Torchwood claim it …"

Pete stood and began to pace. "The Preachers … it's through them we know what happened after Rose was rescued. They told us Jake contacted them for back-up and they went to rescue Rose. When he didn't make it, they took her to a safe house and cared for her … it took them two weeks before they felt safe enough to make contact."

Pete looked at Jackie and she smiled. "They came up to me while I was shoppin', someone passed me a note in the changin' room." She shrugged. "Thought it was some nutter but I did what the note said and me and Pete met with them the next day."

"Doctor, I can't tell you …" Jackie sniffed and her voice trembled but she continued. "When they finally took us to Rose … God, she was a wreck! Her hair … she was so pale and skinny! So skinny, 'cept for the baby bump." She chuckled. "I was never so shocked, I can tell ya. At first I thought they'd done some weird experiment on her …"

"Rose was able to tell us who the father was. By the time we were reunited the drugs were out of her system and she told us she had been confused about being pregnant at first," Pete smiled at Jackie. "Said she woke up and panicked, thinking the same thing as Jacks. Anyway, you'll have to ask Rose, but from what she said, once she wasn't under the influence of whatever they'd doped her with she started to hear the baby..., in her mind?" Pete looked at him, eyebrows raised in question.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Gallifreyans are a telepathic race, we are, or were connected to all others of our race through low level telepathy, think of it as white noise and always being aware of others in your head. The baby was seeking contact with his mother, which is normal from what little I know of Gallifreyan natural pregnancy, but I'm not sure how he managed it with Rose. It's something I'll be talking with her about, later."

Pete nodded. "Well, however she and the baby did it, Rose could tell it was your child and that is what led us to knowing why Torchwood had faked her death. You pegged it earlier; they discovered the baby was alien and I guess … I'm sorry Doctor. I told you once that our Torchwood wasn't like this universe's but I was naïve and Rose paid for it. I'll never forgive myself —"

"Pete! Weren't just you, I was there too, and so was Rose for that matter!" Mickey's jaw clenched. "Was no one's fault. We were all blind to what was going on. Just drop it, yeah?"

Pete nodded and Mickey continued. "Like Pete said, we figured out what was going on but we didn't know how deep the scum went into Torchwood leadership so we didn't trust anyone. Pete sent Jackie on vacation, she put out that she was goin' to a spa in Switzerland but really she went to Norway, 's where Rose said we needed to go, so …" he shrugged.

"We kinda learned not to question how she knew things after … before the Preachers made contact they told us that Torchwood found the safe house, or would have if Rose hadn't warned them to move."

He met The Doctor's eyes and shook his head. "Don't look at me like that, Boss. I can't tell you how Rose knew, just take my word for it, she did and it kept us safe until we got outta that universe."

The Doctor nodded but he grit his teeth at finding more instances of Rose's impossible knowledge. He blew out a breath and then motioned for Mickey to continue.

"So, we found a safe place in the village near Darlig Ulv Stranden, set Jackie up there and then smuggled Rose out of London. Me and Pete continued to work at Torchwood trying to find out who was behind the rogue operation … turned out it wasn't so rogue …"

"I found out the government and several of the Torchwood board were working together …they -" Pete shook his head. "When I told Jacks what was happening she told me about this Earth's second world war." He snorted. "Parallel universe, eh? Only thing different was the time period and who were now declared undesirables."

The Doctor grimaced. "All that alien contact … your world was running ahead of this one as far as that goes. I'm guessing after one too many attempted invasions fear and paranoia set in?"

Pete nodded. "Exactly. A new government in power after campaigning on nationalism and playin' in to the xenophobes …, combined with power mad Torchwood? Recipe for disaster, that was." He scrubbed a hand across his face. "When I realized how far the poison had spread I started selling off my assets. At first my thought was to disappear, start a new life in some remote place where Rose and the baby would be safe …"

"But then those dreams of Rose's started."

The Doctor looked at Jackie. "What dreams?"

Jackie shrugged. "Yer gonna have to ask her. She told Mickey a bit, enough for him to help get us here, but 's far as I know she ain't told anybody the whole story."

The Doctor huffed and motioned for Jackie to continue. "When Rose said she'd a way to get across the void, back to this universe, well, after she convinced us she weren't mad —Mickey Smith …" Jackie pointed a finger at Mickey and The Doctor hid a smile. "You may have taken ever' thing Rose said as gospel truth from the start but not me, so shut yer yap!"

"Once she convinced us, Pete took to buyin' those diamonds and such." Jackie smirked. "'Twas my idea. That currency 's no good here but I figured we could always sell that stuff …"

The Doctor smiled but thought it prudent not to inform Jackie that, because of the conflict in Africa, diamonds were now fitted with place of origin numbers. He met Jack's eyes and saw that he was thinking along the same lines. Jack dipped his head in silent acknowledgement; Torchwood Cardiff would handle it.

"So, how long were you on the run from Torchwood?"

Mickey snorted. "Feels like years but it was about," He looked at Jackie and Pete. "Five months?"

Pete nodded but Jackie huffed. "Men! We was hidin' from Torchwood until we came here!" She looked at The Doctor. "We been in that universe for a little over 15 months and it all went to hell four months in so … you do the math."

The Doctor processed this information in the blink of an eye. "Rose was pregnant for twelve months?"

"You're surprised? What, you don't know how long it takes for yer kind?"

"Jackie, my kind weren't gestated that way, hadn't been for eons–"

He waved her questioning look away and got to his feet. "It's a lot to process …, I thank you all for … well for telling me and for …" He stopped and met Mickey, Pete, and Jackie's eyes. Jackie blinked away tears and then crushed him in a hug.

"You daft alien. No need to thank us, we love them too!" She squeezed him hard and continued to whisper. "Now she's back with you … you take care of them, keep 'em safe or I'll slap ya into another face, grandson or not."

He chuckled and returned the hug before stepping back. "If I don't, I Iook forward to that slap."

Jackie patted his cheek and then scooped Jake up, placing the baby in his arms. "He's gonna need to eat soon, best be takin' him to his Mum."

He headed for the stairs, smiling as Jackie's voice carried out of the room. "Right then, you lot! That's enough misery for today. We need some food, clothes — what are you standin' there for, Captain Flirt? Shift!"


	9. Darkness Falls

Darkness Falls

Rose sighed and tugged on The Doctor's arm. "You about through? 'M kinda tired …"

"I let you sleep for three hours …" He studied her face for a minute and then frowned. "You are a bit pale."

Rose swatted his hand away as he tried to scan her with the sonic screwdriver. Her head had been aching since she awakened, really it was what had dragged her from a deep sleep, but she wasn't about to tell him that, he'd haul her back to the villa and she wanted to see the rest of the town.

His eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Bit grumpy, Miss Tyler."

Rose huffed and rubbed her eyes. "I'm not sick, just didn't sleep well." She ignored his frown and looped her arm through his, nudging him to move. "Now come on, that's enough shopping. Let's find a snack, yeah?"

"Rose Tyler not wanting to shop? Now I _know_ you're ill."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Am not, just think you've bought enough."

She pointed at the overflowing storage area of the push-chair they had just purchased. "Honestly, how much can one small baby need? You do remember the things you've chosen to have delivered, yeah?"

He grinned and led her toward a small café. "What's wrong with a well dressed Time Tot?" He stopped at a small glass table and guided her onto a chair. "You and Jake rest and I'll be right back."

Rose smiled at a couple of tourists sitting at the table next to her and then turned to her son. "You're going to be spoiled rotten …" He giggled and not for the first time Rose wondered how much he understood.

She stroked his cheek and thought about the changes in their lives over the last two days. Since connecting with his father's mind, Jake had seemed to pull away from her. He still let her know when his physical needs required attention but she no longer felt the constant hum of what she called his baby chatter.

She bit her lip. Was that her role now then? Provider of food and clean nappies? _Don't be ridiculous, Tyler_. It's just because The Doctor is something new he still loves and needs his Mummy. She mentally kicked herself for feeling left out but she couldn't deny that the thought had flitted through her mind all day that her Time Tot really didn't need her for much and once those few things he did need her for were over …

She shook her head and focused on the positive. Her little family was complete. The Doctor had taken to Jake like a duck takes to water and all was right with her world. She should be happy, ecstatic even. She bit her lip and admitted to herself that, while she was happy, she was also troubled by things she couldn't quite put into words.

Was it the sudden change in The Doctor? He'd embraced fatherhood so quickly after he'd found out Jake was telepathic. And really, that was another thing that continued to bother her and even though she'd told herself she'd simply ask him instead of worrying, Rose hadn't found the courage to broach the subject. Would he have acted the same if Jake hadn't been a Time Tot?

She also couldn't help but dwell on the future, more specifically hers and The Doctors. If she were honest with herself, she had to admit most of her current unease stemmed from not knowing how he saw their relationship progressing, if he even did at all.

Would he keep her around to care for Jake's infant needs and then drop her off on Earth so he could continue traveling the stars with his son? After all, what did he need with human companions now that he had another Time Lord?

A chiming melody flitted through her mind, carrying the words The Doctor had spoken to her so long ago. _You can spend the rest of your life with me … I'm honored to have your forever …_

Rose smiled and murmured her thanks to the Tardis, privately grateful that the Old Girl hadn't sent her a mental smack for being stupid. She shook her head and shoved all her doubts away. It was a beautiful day, she was in the company of the two people she loved most in the universe, and everything else could go hang; she lived with a Time Lord, best to be content with the now and let the future work itself out.

Absently rocking the push-chair with her foot, she glanced around the small square surrounding the café. Tourists and a few natives strolled through the streets but for the most part it was a sleepy little town. Rose smiled and thought of how nice it was that they were managing to get a real vacation.

She stared at the fountain standing in the middle of the small park, half-heartedly remembering all of the times The Doctor had tried to take her somewhere relaxing and ended up in the thick of trouble. The smile on her face faded as her vision blurred. She blinked and rubbed her eyes but everything remained hazy and indistinct. From beside the fountain a shimmering black shape appeared.

She gasped. That was the fourth time today that had happened. She blinked and, like before, the black shape was gone. A shiver ran down her spine and she started to rise, intent on alerting The Doctor but stopped herself when she noticed no one else was acting like anything was wrong. She shrugged and forced herself to relax, laughing at her over active imagination.

Rose occupied herself and Jake with a picture book for a few minutes but soon found her attention drawn back to the square. Her gaze swept over the trees and flowers before settling on the fountain.

She gasped and clutched her head as a tingling, stretching sensation began to pulse through it. Her vision blurred, the black shadow appeared and started to glide toward her as silence fell across the café.

She bit back a scream as she noticed that everyone around her, including her baby was still, unnaturally still, as if they were frozen. With shaking hands she moved to pull Jake into her arms but hesitated as the familiar lilt of the Tardis song filled her mind and urged her to run.

She shook her head, the idea that she'd leave her child unthinkable, but the urge came again, insistent and this time coupled with the idea that she was leading the danger away.

She got to her feet, knocking her chair over in the process. With one last glance at Jake, she ran.

A roar of rage carried through the silence, sending terror through Rose but the thing was chasing her, was moving away from her son, and that was all that mattered.

Rose ran like the hounds of hell were breathing down her neck, and really, she couldn't be sure they weren't. She tried to reach out to the Tardis for help but all she heard was white noise.

As soon as she'd put distance between herself and the black shadow the excruciating pain in her head subsided to a dull throb allowing her to concentrate on evading the creature but as her lungs demanded air and her legs cried for rest the thing behind her began to close the distance and the teeth gritting pain returned.

Rose sobbed and blinked away tears as her overwrought brain sought a plan. Her vision began to blur from the pain and she knew she wouldn't last much longer. Seeing the open air market up ahead, she forced her body into one last sprint and darted in, out, and around the vendor stalls, hoping to lose the creature long enough to hide.

The pain in her head had lessened and Rose smiled, thinking her plan was a success. She bent at the waist, preparing to duck under a display of colorful carpets, when a guttural laugh filled her ears and the she ran straight into the black shadow.

Pain, unlike anything she had ever experienced slammed through her head. She fell to the ground, her body twitching and tingling like she'd stuck her finger into an outlet. Wide-eyed, she watched as the black shadow shimmered and flickered before taking the shape of a man. She met his eyes and gasped at the hatred and anger simmering in the black depths. She whimpered as he bent and pulled her into his arms.

Rose recoiled, struggling to tear herself from the stranger's hold but his hands tightened. His smile was cruel as he brought his face closer. Rose tried to scream but words caught in her throat. She shook her head, trying to evade him as the man's lips hovered above hers, his hot breath turning her stomach. Heart racing, she closed her eyes, bracing herself for whatever was to come.

A curse from her assailant brought her eyes open in time to see him rearing back, disgust clear on his face as he stared at something behind her. His fingers dug into her arms as he leaned forward and spat through clenched teeth. "Another day, _pup_ …"

Rose gasped as heat poured through her body and the air around her seemed to crackle and pop like fire. Mouth open, she stared as the man above her faded to a shapeless black shadow again before blinking out of sight.

The pain wracking her body ceased but her head continued to throb. She moaned and curled her legs to her chest, hands tugging at her hair. She jumped as cool hands stroked her face and a feminine voice began to murmur in a language the Tardis didn't translate.

The ache receded enough that she could tolerate opening her eyes but her field of vision was limited to narrow pinpricks of light. Though the face above her was cast in shadow the woman's eyes shone the deep red of rubies and exuded an aura not definable as comfort or kindness but of something Rose's scattered brain interpreted as _right._

Rose blinked again but the urge to surrender to unconsciousness was strong. She struggled against the encroaching darkness and tried to speak but a soft finger pressed against her lips. "Rest now, young one," the strange woman's voice seemed to fill every nook and cranny of her mind, willing her to sleep.

Rose fought for a moment and felt hands glide across her temples and the lilting voice whisper, "The time has not arrived …"

Rose sighed and let the darkness enfold her. ****

"Rose!"

Rose groaned as hands grabbed her shoulders and several people shouted her name. She considered remaining in the fluffy, pain free cloud world on which she was floating but the voices were getting sharper and the hands around her shoulders were now shaking her.

"Come on, Rose, open your eyes."

Rose struggled for a few minutes, pushing away the comfort of unconsciousness, and then managed to open her eyes to find herself staring into the eyes of a very worried Time Lord.

His smile was full of relief as he dropped a hard kiss on her lips. "Good girl! You saved me from the wrath of your mother."

She smiled and then winced as her mother shoved The Doctor aside and enfolded her into a crushing hug. "Rose Marion Tyler! You scared me to death. Whatcha think yer doin' runnin' off like that? And leavin' the baby, Rose how could you? That alien git had better not've –"

"Mum!" Rose cut off Jackie's tirade and pushed out of her arms. "Where's Jake?"

Pete's face popped into view along with Tony's. "Jake's right here. We've all been looking for you." Pete frowned at Rose. "Very irresponsible of you, my girl."

She swallowed passed the lump in her throat and tried to speak but only managed a sob. Tears welled and flowed down her cheeks and she found it was all too much.

Rose scrambled to her feet and pushed past her parents to jerk Jake from his chair. She buryed her face in the soft skin of his neck and concentrated on breathing in his sweet baby scent.

Her arms shook as the realization that she could have lost him sunk in. "Mummy's sorry, so, so sorry!"

Her exhausted legs gave out and Rose collapsed to the ground, rocking Jake and sobbing uncontrollably as reaction settled upon her. She shouted as someone pulled the baby from her and slapped half-heartedly at the arms that lifted her but what little energy she'd had left after her encounter with the creature soon fled, leaving her numb.

A soft kiss landed in her hair and she lifted her gaze to find The Doctor carrying her. "Doctor … I'm sorry" She drew a shuddering breath. "Was the only way, I had to –"

"Hush Rose, it's all right." He pulled her closer to his chest and increased his pace. "We'll be back at the villa in five point three six two minutes and we can talk."

Panic started to claw at Rose. Her son, her family, that thing had been after her! She shook her head and pushed against The Doctor's chest. "Let me down! I can't lead it to, I've got to …, it's after me!"

The Doctor tightened his grip and his mouth thinned into a hard line. "Then whatever it is had better hope there is a deity to beg mercy from because it will find none with me."


	10. Chapter 10 Conversations and Conclusions

The Doctor sat by the window and watched as Rose cuddled their son. He studied her, looking for signs that she wasn't recovered from whatever had attacked her and, finding none that he couldn't live with, he walked to the bed and held out his arms. "I'll just take Jake to Jackie and be right back. Bring us a cuppa too, all right?"

Rose frowned and held Jake tighter.

"Rose, he's fine, he'll stay fine. I'm not going to let anything happen to him, or you." The Doctor reached for the baby and smiled as Rose gave in. "That's my girl. We need to talk and I'd rather Jake not hear."

She snorted. "He's three months old, Doctor."

"He's telepathic, Rose."

She smiled. "Point taken."

He returned to find Rose in pajamas, hair damp and face scrubbed, huddled against the headboard. She looked impossibly young and utterly beautiful. His hearts clenched at the thought of what had happened today; he'd almost lost her.

He clamped down on his emotions and handed her a cup of tea before sitting beside her and taking her hand. He sighed, hating having to dredge up the horror she'd experienced. "Rose, tell me what happened at the café."

Her whiskey brown eyes met his over the rim of her mug. "Not sure really, there was this … this black, shadow thingy." Her eyes twinkled with mirth when he raised his eyebrow. "Yep, that's a Rose Tyler technical term."

He smiled and shook his head. "Continue your description of this thingy, Miss Tyler."

Her amusement faded and she clung to his hand. "Okay, well I noticed the black shadowy thingy and it started to move towards me." She grimaced and rubbed her temples. "My head was pounding, I mean it had been hurting since I woke up but it really, really started hurting when I saw that thing."

She shrugged. "Anyway, I was scared and was gonna grab Jake and run to you but then …" She looked up at him, indecision clear in her eyes.

The Doctor squeezed her hand. "Go on, Rose, why didn't you run to me?"

She looked away, setting her mug down. "Um, the uh, the Tardis. She told me to leave Jake and just run."

The Doctor gasped and dropped her hand. He swallowed several times before he found his voice. "Wha … what do you mean, the Tardis told you?"

Rose sighed. "I can't explain, not really. I've heard her before …"

The Doctor studied her bowed head for several moments, debating pursuing Rose's ability to communicate with his ship versus hearing more about the alien encounter. He huffed and leaped up, pacing.

The question of Rose's telepathy, her understanding the Tardis … he had wanted answers to those puzzles for some time now but, as usual, something else had happened to take precedence.

He turned toward Rose and sighed. "Rose, I want to … no I don't really want to," he shook his head. "No matter, tell me the rest of your incident with this shadow." He held up his hand when she started to speak. "Make no mistake though, we will return to this chatting with my Tardis matter."

Rose smirked. "Yeah, been able to avoid it so far. 'S drivin' you spare, isn't it?"

He quirked an eyebrow and motioned for her to continue.

"So, I didn't want to, but the Tardis insisted I run, so I did." She frowned. "Was weird though. When I hesitated to run, I looked around and everyone was still."

She raised her eyes to his and bit her lip. "Doctor, I can't explain what happened but it was like everyone but me was frozen …"

The Doctor nodded. "They were. Frozen I mean. Time was somehow stopped."

A look of confusion clouded her face. He tugged on his earlobe and pursed his lips. How to explain Time Lord senses to a human ...

"I was standing in line when my time senses alerted me to an anomaly." He smiled at her frown. "Time Lord, Rose. I'm sensitive to time and manipulations of time. I was frozen too but not unaware of it happening, like everyone else was."

"So, Mum and Dad, they didn't know that happened, yeah?"

He nodded.

"What about Jake? Was he aware of it too?"

The Doctor paused. His Rose, always asking good questions.

"You know, I'm not really sure. If I had to guess I would say no. He's sensitive to time, or he will be, but Gallifreyans don't usually develop their time senses until puberty, around the age of eight."

Rose blinked. "Your people reach adolescence at eight?"

He grinned. "In some things, Miss Tyler. Superior physiology, remember?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, how could I forget?"

The Doctor started, surprised by the edge to her voice. Something was bothering his pink and yellow girl … he sighed acknowledging that yet again there was no time.

He clapped his hands and strode across the room to join her on the bed. "Right then, what happened when you ran from your shadow thingy?"

Her lips quirked. "Well, I ran, obviously. Got far enough ahead of it that my headache lessened …" she grimaced. "But it made me careless. I saw a hiding place and ran toward it without checking where the thing was and ran straight into it."

The Doctor sucked in a breath. "Rose! You could have been … I mean … we don't know what it is – Rasillon, Rose! It could have killed you."

She raised a shaking hand and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Well, it didn't kill me but felt like it was gonna." She shuddered. "Pain was awful. Like it was electrocutin' me or something. I … it started to shimmer and then the shadow became a man dressed all in black."

She looked up, eyes wide. "Oh God, Doctor, it … he …" she gulped. "He was leaning over me, his face was so close to mine … I don't know what he was planning on doing but it looked like …" Rose bit her lip and looked away.

"Rose? What did you think he was going to do?"

She fidgeted for several minutes and then met his gaze. "I know it's gonna sound silly but … it seemed like he was gonna kiss me!"

"WHAT?" He snorted. "You think an alien being manipulated time just to steal a kiss from you?"

Rose's mouth dropped open and then snapped shut. She scowled. "And you think that is ridiculous because?" She arched an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, sure he had put his foot into it with Rose but unable to figure out exactly how. "Uh … hmmm." He glanced at Rose and, not liking the emotions he saw brewing on her face, leapt to his feet and started pacing again.

"Right then, moving on. The alien was, uh, close to your face, right?"

She managed to glare at him before he averted his eyes. "No, he was trying to kiss me –"

"Whatever," he waved his hand in dismissal but didn't miss her stiffening. "Semantics. Did he do anything else?"

He heard Rose emit what could have been called a growl but decided to plow ahead anyway. "How were you feeling at the time? Pain in your head still there? How about the electric shock?"

"Yes, and I was still in horrible pain."

He whirled around at her clipped tone. Bollocks! She was definitely in a snit. What the hell had he said? He cleared his throat. "Uh, Rose could you be more specific?"

She straightened her spine and raised her eyebrows. "No Doctor, I can't. I seem to jump to ridiculous conclusions, stupid ape that I am, so I think I should just state the facts."

He gulped. Okay, very miffed Rose. He wracked his brain, running over their conversation but unable to find what could have set her back up. He sighed. "All right, Rose. It's obvious I've angered you. Want to tell me why?"

She snorted. "Nope."

He gritted his teeth. Bloody stubborn female. "Then how do you propose we continue?"

She sniffed. "I really couldn't say, inferior species and all …"

"Rose Tyler!" He dragged her to her feet. "What is all of this about stupid apes and inferior species?"

She looked over his shoulder, mouth set in a firm line.

He sighed and grasped her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You're being ridiculous –"

"Oh! Of course I am!" She jerked from his arms and stalked across the room to stare out the window. "It was ridiculous that an alien might find me attractive so why wouldn't my behavior also be –"

He laughed as realization dawned. Couldn't help it really, despite her anger and distress. Typical female. He shook his head and walked over to her, intending to tease her mercilessly.

She whipped around to stare at him and the hurt in her eyes stopped him cold. He reached out, drawing her stiff body into his embrace.

"Rooose." He nuzzled her neck with his chin. "Are you really – I mean."

She stiffened further and tried to pull away. He grinned and tried another tactic. Dropping light kisses along her neck and collarbone he murmured. "I, being a superior alien of the highest sort, would certainly find kissing you a worthwhile reason to stop time."

"Yeah?"

He smiled as she relaxed a bit and tilted her head to give him better access to her neck. "Oh yes!"

He pulled away to look into her eyes. Seeing the soft look in hers he pressed a kiss to her lips and then leaned his forehead against hers. "However, I really don't think that was the intent of your shadowy thingy." He paused, considering. "At least, it better not have been."

Rose giggled. "I was bein' kinda silly, huh?"

He chuckled and released her enough to guide them both back to the bed. "A bit. But, you're my precious girl so I'll make allowances."

She snorted. "Magnanimous of you, M'Lord."

His lips quirked but he held back his laughter. "So, care to elaborate now?"

She frowned. "On what?"

"I asked if anything else had happened and you said, yes. So, what else did the creature do?"

"Oh! Right, well, nothin' really, he was getting close to kissin' me but I guess he saw you and got scared. He muttered something and then he faded away."

She looked at him and frowned. "Guess you know better what happened after that since I was tryin' not to pass out."

The Doctor frowned. "Uh, Rose, I never saw the creature …"

"But … it was you that stroked my cheek and put your fingers on my forehead—no, wait!"

She pulled her legs underneath her and grabbed his hand. "It's kinda fuzzy but there was this … this woman I guess. All I remember are deep red eyes and a female voice whispering something."

She closed her eyes and cocked her head, concentrating. "I can't remember what she said either …" she sighed. "I'm sorry, Doctor."

He studied her for a few minutes. "There might be a way to jog your memories …" he squeezed her hand letting the matter drop.

He'd avoided contact with Rose's mind the entire time she traveled with him though he'd longed to do it. Then, as now, he was unsure if, once merged with her consciousness he'd find the willpower to leave. No, best to continue avoiding that particular intimacy.

But, with her new found telepathic abilities … he slammed the door on that thought and shook his head.

"We can talk about jogging your memory later. For now, I'm more interested in identifying this thingy."

He left the bed, pacing and tugging at his hair as his brain flew through all of the creatures he knew were capable of changing shape. There were many but they couldn't also manipulate time.

He could think of only one race with both of those abilities but … "Impossible."

He sighed and flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. His genius brain was nagging at him, prodding for him to accept the impossible. A cold chill ran down his spine, he refused to even think the word.

"Doctor?"

He jumped as Rose placed a hand on his arm. "Hmmm? Just thinking, Rose."

It couldn't be, it was impossible; therefore he needed to start over, review the facts again, and look for what he had missed.

He rolled over and smiled at Rose. "Let's go over this again, shall we?" He grinned as she rolled her eyes. "You might have left something out."

"I told ya everything –"

"Yes, but what were you doing before you saw the shadow in the park? Maybe something you did drew it to you …"

She shook her head. "Back to blamin' me for attracting trouble?" She flashed her tongue touched smile. "Sorry to disappoint ya, Doctor, but I wasn't doing anything. I was just sitting with Jake, you know, just thinking while we waited for you."

He groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face, mumbling to himself. "Thinking. Thinking … accidently trip some alien tech? Say some forbidden word in front of an ancient relic of Madrelass? Nah, that's nonsense."

He looked at Rose and studied her face while he ran through more seemingly absurd hypotheses. A faint hint of pink was creeping up her neck and spreading across her cheeks and she was avoiding his eyes.

He cocked an eyebrow, what had she been doing?

"Rose …, something you want to tell me?"

Her head snapped up. "What? No! No, I told ya, I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, just rocking the push-chair and … and thinking about stuff."

"Hmm, thinking about what?"

She huffed and looked down at her hands. "Just stuff, Doctor. I promise it was nothing to do with this shadowy guy."

"Weell, if it was just stuff, you won't mind telling me, will you?" He nudged her clasped hands with one of his. "You know, so I can eliminate all variables?"

She blushed bright red and shook her head. Now that was intriguing. "Rose? What were you thinking about right before you saw the creature?"

He grinned. "You know I'm not going to let this drop …"

Her shoulders slumped. "I'm tellin' ya –"

"Rooose, I can keep this up all night, next day too –"

"Oh fine!" She glared at him. "I was thinking about us, if you must know!" She swatted his arm. "Happy now? Told ya it had nothing to do with this thing. Now can we please get back to –"

"What about us?" His smile widened as her face flamed again. Oh, this must be good. His mind flashed back to the night Jake must have been conceived. Was she thinking about picking up their relationship were they left off, taking it further? He certainly hoped so!

"Nothing! Nothing about _us_, I mean … there isn't any, I mean we're not –"

He stiffened. There wasn't any _them_? He begged to differ. "Ah, Rose? We have a child together. I would assume there is, in fact an _us_ unless …"

Rasillon! Did she not want a relationship with him now? She'd said she loved him, maybe she'd changed – no that was just ludicrous.

He frowned and exhaled. "Rose? What is going on in that head of yours?"

She wriggled off of the bed and stalked away from him, heading toward the door. "I … I don't want to, I mean … there is nothing going on in my head. Stupid ape, remember?"

His eyes widened. That was the second time in as many minutes that she had called herself that. Angry, he jumped up and grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him. "Why are you – I haven't called you that since my last incarnation and even then –"he took a deep breath, willing himself to calm down.

"Rose, I don't think you are stupid in any way, shape, or form."

She struggled in his grip and then huffed when he refused to relinquish his hold. "Maybe not, but I'm still an ape, a _human_."

He blinked. "Yes, what's your point?"

She scuffed her foot against the area rug, refusing to meet his eyes. "My point?" She laughed, though no humor filled it. "My point is, I will _wither and die_, Doctor. Nothing has changed and really, I don't expect … I mean …"

Wither and die? He cursed his runaway gob. He rubbed the back of his neck, hoping the mouth that got him into this would oblige and get him out. "Um, thing is …"

Bollocks! Never any words when he needed them. "Rose, I …"

She sniffed. "S'Okay Doctor, you don't have to say anythin'." She swiped at her cheeks and he stifled a groan. _Great, he'd caused yet more tears._

He cupped her face, thumbs stroking her across her cheek bones and wiping away the moisture. "Rose … I should have never said that …"

She shook her head, dislodging his hands. "No, but you were right." She straightened her spine and met his eyes. "I'm human, yeah? Can't expect … I – you have Jake now so once he's grown up a bit you'll have the perfect companion, no need to bother with my lot."

She turned from him, absently straightening the duvet and avoiding his gaze. "And really, that's good! I'm so hap—"her words ended on a sob as she collapsed onto the bed.

The Doctor stared at Rose for several seconds until his mind caught up and he hurried to draw her into his arms. He murmured nonsense and rocked her but his brain was in over drive. _What the hell was she thinking?_ He shook his head and waited until she quieted.

"Rose?" He nudged her with his chin. "You're not making much sense, love."

He stroked her hair and waited until her breathing calmed. "Come on now, tell me what –"

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're going to have to explain what you mean because, Time Lord brain I may have but I'm still male and frankly, that little ramble of yours made no sense."

She gulped and buried her head in his chest. "Just forget it, yeah? I don't know what came over me. Guess I'm just tired."

He snorted. "Forget it? Not on your life, Tyler." He gave her a little shake and bent until he could look her in the eyes. "You were nattering on about humans, companions, and Jake. From what I can make out, you seem to be under the assumption that I'll be traveling with our son and not you." He quirked an eyebrow. "That about the gist of it?"

She nodded and ducked her head. "'S just …" she sighed and met his gaze. "I keep remembering how you acted when you thought Jake wasn't a Time Tot."

She shook her head when he started to interrupt. "DON'T! Don't deny it, Doctor. I saw you and I … I _felt_ it." She tapped her temple. "You didn't want to accept him as your son and then …" a sob cracked her voice. "And then, when I lowered his mental shields you were … you accepted him then."

He stiffened, ashamed that she had noticed his initial hesitation and alarmed that she'd gotten passed his shields enough to sense his emotions. He should have known, really. Rose had always seen far too much where it concerned him, telepathic abilities or not.

He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. What could he say? She was right, he hadn't wanted to get too close to Jake until he'd discovered the child was more Gallifreyan than human, but telling her that led right back to his stupid lecture on Time Lord curses.

He looked down and found her glaring at him. "You don't deny what I'm saying which means I was right!" She scooted away from him, crossing her arms over her chest, a hard look in her eyes.

"Just tell me, if Jake hadn't been like you …"her voice broke and she shook her head. "If he'd been human, like me. Would you have … you wouldn't be like you are now with him, would you?"

He gulped. "Rose, it's not what you think." He looked away, unable to meet her accusing stare. "I … I love our son. I'm happy he's here, I plan to be a father to him, isn't that enough?"

She sucked in a breath, drawing his eyes to her face. "Enough? I suppose it is, for Jake, but where does that leave me? I mean, if you're so … so prejudiced against humans that you'd have rejected your own blood –"

"Prejudiced! Rose Tyler, of all the stupid –"

"Ape things to say! Yeah, I know, I'm … we're tolerable, amusing even. But compared to another Time Lord?" She snorted. "I'm under no illusions as to my worth, Doctor."

He jumped up and grabbed her arm. "Don't." He ground out from between clinched teeth. "Just don't." He looked into her eyes. "You are wrong, dead wrong Rose Tyler. I can't believe you'd think—"

He released her and stalked to the door wanting nothing more but to escape the uncomfortable conversation. He turned the door knob but stopped as her words reached him.

"Running again? Not surprised, it's what you do best, yeah?"

His anger wilted at the muted sound of her crying. Everything within him said stay and talk, stay and tell her how he felt but years of doing just what she'd accused him of were fighting just as hard for dominance. He took a step through the doorway …

"Just promise me …" she choked on her tears and drew a ragged breath. "Promise that you won't let him forget me."

He went rigid and his eyes opened wide. Rasillon! She thought … He turned, slammed the door, and stalked across the room, dragging her into his arms. "Rose! How can you think –

He dragged a hand through his hair. "Blimey love, you don't think very highly of me, do you."

"Wha—what?"

He kissed the top of her head and rocked her gently. "Rose, am I right in thinking that you've somehow convinced yourself that I plan on taking Jake away from you?"

He felt her head move a tiny bit and couldn't help but give her a little shake. "I'm trying hard not to be insulted."

He inhaled and forced long overdue words from his tight throat. "Rose Tyler, I can see that I've made a right mess of things. I just assumed … right then."

He nudged her far enough away from him so he was looking in her eyes. "I seem to recall running out of time during a highly crucial conversation with you …"

She sniffed. "Yeah?"

He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah." He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "And I suppose, though I fervently pray this is not the last chance I have to say it. Rose Tyler, I love you."

Her smile lit up the room. He pulled her closer and kissed her, pouring every bit of love he felt into it. They lay back on the bed, fondling, whispering endearments, and indulging in soul shattering snogs.

Minutes later he moved to let her breathe and pressed kisses along her jaw and up to her ear, whispering, "Now then, no more thinking I'm abandoning you, taking our son and swanning off, or the like, hmm?"

He sucked in a breath as she laughed and wriggled closer, her hips nestled close to a part of his anatomy that was rapidly reminding him how long they'd been apart. He gulped and tried to summon control of his wayward body, barely catching what Rose was saying.

"'M sorry. I knew at the time it was silly to think that you'd … that you'd, you know. Even the Tardis scolded me! But I couldn't seem to help it, every time I pushed the thoughts away they'd creep back to the idea that you wouldn't want me now and that you'd dump me on Earth as soon as Jake could look after himself."

He straightened as her words penetrated the haze of arousal fogging his brain. He rolled away, putting distance between them so he could think. The shadow had appeared as Rose was thinking but she was telepathic in some form or another so what if?

He stiffened, not liking where his logic was taking him but acknowledging that she was new to telepathy and, though she'd somehow shielded their son's mind it wasn't a given that her own shields were all that strong or consistent.

"Rose? You've mentioned that you can hear the Tardis and you have a mental bond with Jake. Have you ever connected with anyone else? Even by accident?"

She met his eyes and frowned. "Umm, not that I know of." Her brow furrowed. "I've been hearing the Tardis for a long time –"

"What? How long?"

She bit her lip. "Well, before Canary Wharf …"

His mouth dropped open. "What! Why didn't you … you never thought to tell me?"

She bit her thumb nail and shrugged. "Didn't really know. It was just this music, yeah?" She motioned to her head. "Like a song in the back of my head, really quiet … though sometimes –"

"Sometimes what?"

"A couple of times I'd get a sense of … emotion maybe? Like when we lost her on Krop Tor. I remember feeling really sad and afraid and the song got louder for a few minutes and I felt like something was trying to reassure me that it would be all right. And when I lost my face? I swear she sang to me."

She met his eyes and wrinkled her nose. "Silly, huh?"

He shook his head. "No, that's how the Tardis interacts with me."

He dragged a hand through his hair. How was the Tardis communicating with Rose back then? Since learning about her telepathy he'd been convincing himself the ability was a side effect of carrying a Time Lord child but now …

"Rose, you said the Tardis scolded you today while you were thinking negatively, right? Did she sing to you again?"

Rose shook her head. "No, she didn't sing, she sent me … stuff you'd said to me in the past. Reminding me, I guess."

He tensed. The Tardis had never done anything like that to him. "What specifically did she send to you?"

"Um, when we met Sarah Jane and you said I could spend the rest of my life with you … and then when… when I promised you forever and you said you were honored –"

"Honored to have your forever." Unable to stop himself, he leaned over and kissed her, tracing his tongue along the seam of her lips and then plunging inside when she opened for him. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. "I meant it you know."

He squeezed her gently and kissed her nose. "Don't ever forget it, hmm?"

She giggled. "Keep kissin' me like that and I'm not likely too. Then again, the Tardis wouldn't let me forget either."

He grinned. "Nice to know I have back-up."

She grinned and nudged him. "You finally got to ask me about talkin' with the Tardis. Time Lord nosiness satisfied now?"

"Oi! Scientific curiosity, not nosiness." He rolled onto his back, pulling her down across his chest. "And no, I'm not nearly satisfied," he peered at her, eyebrows raised.

"Or over the fact that you hid this ability from me … but! We'll have that discussion another day. Right now, I need to concentrate on this being that attacked you."

He stroked her hair and ran through all that she'd told him, once again stumbling over thinking the name of the being all evidence was pointing to. He rammed the door on the thought and felt a sharp mental slap.

_Oh! Now you decide to talk to me, huh?_

The slap returned, harder this time, followed by the Tardis equivalent of a snort.

Rose laughed. "What are you doing that is ticking her off?"

He blinked. "What?"

"The Tardis, she's kind of grumbling in my mind but it isn't directed at me, I'm guessin' it's you she's mad at?"

He shifted, sitting up against the headboard. "Rose, how did you know she just deigned to communicate with me?"

Rose shrugged. "Don't know."

He frowned. Rose might well be able to talk with his ship but she shouldn't be able to … he mentally assessed his shields and found them as strong as ever.

"Rose? Ask the Tardis why you can hear her talk to me."

"Okay, but why don't you –" he frowned at her.

"Okay, okay, I'm asking!" Rose stilled and closed her eyes.

The Doctor smiled at the look of concentration on her face. It seemed to take quite a bit of effort for Rose to connect. He'd have to work with her, help her strengthen her abilities and maybe see what else she was capable of.

Perhaps they could even bond – no! He buried the thought and the longing driving it. Slightly telepathic or not, that type of bond with Rose could only end with more heartache for him and Rasillon knew the future held enough of that for him.

He shook himself and focused on Rose as she blinked and then frowned. "Huh. She says the time has not arriv –Ooh!" Rose's eyes widened.

She sat up and bounced on the bed. "Doctor! That's what the lady said! I remember now."

He stilled her, smiling at her excitement. "Not following, love. What lady?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "The lady with the red eyes, yeah? The one that chased the black shadow guy away. The Tardis said the same thing. The time has not arrived." She cocked her head. "Pretty enigmatic, wouldn't ya say?"

He snorted. "Yes, and that's my line."

Rose giggled and then yawned. "I still can't remember what the guy in black said, though I can see the cruel look on his face." She shivered and snuggled closer to the Doctor.

"I can feel his anger, his hatred. But then the lady came and he disappeared. I couldn't see anything but her eyes, I remember thinking they were shining like rubies and she was stroking my face, murmuring in a language I couldn't understand …"

Rose looked up at him. "Why didn't the Tardis translate?"

His lips pressed into a firm line. More evidence pointing toward a conclusion he emphatically did not want to reach.

Rose yawned again and rubbed at her eyes.

"Time for you to sleep." He shifted until the covers were free and then drew her into his arms, pulling the duvet up around her.

"Sorry Doctor, me and my human needs."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Hush you."

Rose giggled. "Wonder who that lady was. Think she was a Mandrelassian?"

Rose snuggled closer and drifted off only to mutter, "Wish you'd have seen her, Doctor. She was like an avenging angel or somethin' …"

His head jerked up. Avenging? "Rose, what do you mean?"

"Don't know, didn't feel like she was comin' to my rescue because she cared about me or anythin', the feeling was more like that was what she did, you know, like defendin' things was her job. Can't explain it really …" her voice trailed off and the Doctor saw that she'd fallen asleep.

He sank back against the pillows and allowed his mind to wander over the puzzle pieces again; adding in the information Rose had just given him. He gritted his teeth and allowed the voice in his head to speak the words he'd been actively ignoring: Guardians.


	11. Chapter 11: Decisions

Chapter 11: Decisions

Rose bounded down the steps, chattering to the happy baby perched on her hip. "Let Mummy get a cuppa and then we'll see to your tummy, okay precious boy?" After breakfast we'll find your Daddy and see what kind of adventure we can find. Would ya like that?"

Jake gurgled, his big brown eyes glued to her face. Rose groaned and nuzzled his neck. "Why do I get the feeling you're going to be as much of a trouble magnet as your father?"

"Oi!" Rose jumped as the Doctor sidled up behind her, his arms going around her waist. "Telling tales about me, Rose?" He reached around her and ruffled Jake's hair. "All's fair, son, so remind me to tell you all about your jeopardy friendly mum!"

Rose laughed and turned in his arms. "Hello you, stirring up unrest and ferreting out evil doers while I sleep?"

He grinned and then pressed a hard kiss to her lips. "'Course not! That's your job! The Tardis has healed all that she can so I brought her over and have been working on her while you lazed about." He pulled her closer and lowered his head, lips brushing across hers as he murmured, "Good morning, love."

Rose gasped as the doctor deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping into her mouth in a slow rhythm that quickly had her knees weak. She moaned and thrust her free hand into his silky hair. Heart pounding, Rose lost herself to sensation.

"Oi! Give me my grandson before you drop him."

Rose turned her head and groaned. Hearing the Doctor's sigh of frustration set her to giggling. He rested his forehead against hers and smirked.

"See why I don't do _domestic_?"

Rose laughed and pecked him on the lips before hollering to her mother's retreating back. "Good morning to you too, Mum!"

She turned back to the Doctor and tugged on his tie. "Didn't you say the Tardis is just outside?" At his nod, she grinned. "Weeeell, we could continue our _morning greetings _there. Assembled hordes and all …"

He laughed and dropped a kiss onto her forehead. "Ahhh, much as I was enjoying our _greetings_, Jack is helping with the repairs so … I must regretfully decline your enticing offer, for now anyway." He kissed Jake's cheek and backed away toward the door. "We should be done in a few hours, with what we can fix without parts anyway, so how about I meet you on the beach?"

Rose smiled but then bit her lip. "Was thinking how nice it'd be to lounge in the sun but I'll have to go into town first." At the Doctor's raised eyebrow she continued. "Don't have a bathing suit."

"Ah, no worries, Tardis wardrobe is back on line." He waggled his eyebrows and smirked. "I'll pick something out for you."

"Oi! Nothing too revealing. Just had a baby, remember?"

The Doctor's eyes darkened to near black as they skimmed her body before coming to rest on her breasts. "Oh, I can see that you have, Rose Tyler." His grin was almost predatory.

Rose shivered and took a steadying breath. God what that ma—alien could do to her! Conscious of her mum in the next room and her son's need for food, she swallowed and averted her eyes from his heated gaze. "Yes, well … um, I'm just gonna go feed Jake then. I'll stop by the wardrobe after, yeah?"

Brown eyes twinkling, he grinned and pulled her close. "Weell, since you're afraid of … my fashion sense," he smirked. "I'll just get back to work." Not waiting for her reply, he dropped a quick kiss on her lips and headed back to the Tardis.

Rose watched him saunter across the lawn and then headed into the breakfast room. God! He was such a tease!

Plotting revenge and wondering if the red bikini she'd worn when he'd taken her to some planet with golden beaches and purple water would still fit her, Rose grinned and poured herself some tea before flouncing over to the breakfast nook and settling Jake at her breast.

"Well, someone's chipper this mornin'." Jackie smirked and fed Tony another spoonful of cereal. "Bet I know why too."

Rose blushed at her mother's pointed stare but held her tongue.

Jackie scowled and pointed her finger at Rose. "Don't think I don't know where that alien spent the night, Rose Tyler!" She held up her hand as Rose began to speak. "I don't wanna hear it, but I expect a ring on your finger before I get another grandchild!"

Rose gaped. "Umm, that's not … I mean, we aren't like –"

"Rose Marion Tyler! Don't you dare say the two o' you aren't like that! I'm lookin' at the evidence that says ya are!"

Rose gulped and took a drink of tea. "Mum! I wasn't goin' to say that, though we aren't … anyway, what I was gonna say is the Doctor isn't going to marry me."

Jackie sputtered. "And why the bloody hell not? His Lordship too good for a London shop girl?"

Rose ducked her head and cursed. Why had she thought comin' to breakfast was a good idea? She'd been so happy not five minutes ago. Leave it to her Mum to burst her bubble.

"Fine, don't answer me! I'll get an answer or a ring out of that no good –"

"Mum, NO!" Rose fought her rising panic as she felt Jake's distress filter through their link. "Just stay out of it. It's none of your business!"

Jackie huffed and wiped cereal from Tony's face. "It bloody well is my business and your Dad's too!" She stalked into the kitchen with the empty bowl, continuing her tirade. "Who do ya think is gonna have to pick up the pieces of your heart?" Jackie stomped back into the room and loomed over her daughter, hands on hips. "Not to mention support you and your kids when he decides to leave you?"

Rose stiffened and refused to meet her mother's gaze. Tears welled and overflowed her eyes. Damn her mother, she'd managed to hit every one of Rose's deepest insecurities.

Love her the Doctor might, but she was not in the least convinced he wouldn't leave her if he thought it best, not that a wedding ring would make her any more secure on that score. Her mum was wrong on one account any way, and the thought managed to tumble from her mouth before her brain could stop it.

"He won't leave his child behind, Mum." She swiped the tears off her face and snuck a peak at her mother's face. "And I don't … I mean, he says he won't leave me either. He told me … he told me he loved me so …" She drew a deep breath and looked her mother in the eyes. "So I'm just gonna have to trust him."

Jackie's eyes narrowed. "That's it? He says I love you and I'll never leave you and you're just gonna spread yer legs –"

"MUM! For God's sake, stop!" Rose swallowed a sob and straightened her spine. "Why do ya have to ruin everything?" She rolled her eyes and huffed as more tears spilled down her cheeks. She swatted the moisture away and forced words through her tight throat. "If … if the day ever comes that the Doctor doesn't want me to travel with him then I'll … I'll get a job and earn a livin' like everybody else."

She gulped and glared at her mother. "Don't worry I've no intentions of spongin' off of you and Pete!"

Jackie's shoulders slumped. She sighed. "Sweetheart, yer Dad and me'll always take care of you! I'd never begrudge you money or a home …" She took Rose's hand. "But sweetheart, you're the mother of his child, he should make an honest woman out o' ya and provide for ya –"

"Mum! He does provide for me, or he will when we get the Tardis healed and as for all that 'honest woman' rot, I don't care about any of that."

Jackie scowled. "Well I do! But that isn't … Rose it's about respect. Marriage isn't just about showin' the world ya love someone, it's about showin' the world your spouse is worthy and showin' that you're proud and it's about publicly committin' ..."

Rose closed her eyes and wished she could also close her ears. Every word her mother uttered was like a nail piercing her heart. She'd never allowed herself to dream that the Doctor would ask her to marry him, for precisely the reasons her mother had just stated.

He was a Lord of Time, thought of as a god on planets throughout the universe. She was a shop girl with no education and no breeding, however much he might care for her … she was honored to have what he gave her, she'd ask for and expect nothing more.

Rose stifled a sob. Being realistic sucked.

"Rose?" Jackie knelt and grasped Rose's chin. "Look at me."

Rose sighed and complied, knowing her mother wouldn't let it go. "Haven't you said enough?"

Jackie sighed. "Rose, I haven't said all of this to hurt you. I love you and want what's best for ya that's all. And what's best is for that alien git to marry you."

Rose released a shaky breath and pushed away from her mum. "I … I know you only want what's best for me, you always have, but …" She tightened her grip on Jake and stood up. "The Doctor is what is best for me, Mum. He loves me," she held up her hand as Jackie began to speak.

"He does Mum, but you have to understand. He isn't … he's alien Mum and you can't expect him to do human things." Rose closed her eyes and willed her voice not to shake.

"You said it earlier and it's true." She rolled her eyes at her mother's confused look. "He's a Time Lord, the last of the most advanced species in the universe! That he even lowered himself enough to … to let me have Jake is a gift I can't begin to deserve."

Rose tightened her grip on her son and swallowed, trying to calm herself but her mother had poked too far and all of the demons Rose struggled to hide were clamoring for release.

"You can't understand. You don't know him like I do! He's, he's – bloody hell Mum! There are whole galaxies out there that worship him as a GOD!"

A bitter laugh escaped her trembling lips. "And yo … you think the Doctor should – how did you put it? Oh yeah, publicly commit to me and show the world that I'm worthy …" She paced, dragging a hand through her hair. "Don't you get it? I'm NOT!"

Her voice failed as sobs wracked her body. Shaking, she pushed Jake into Jackie's arms and rushed out the back door, ignoring Jackie's pleas.

The Doctor stepped into the shadows as Rose rushed by the doorway he'd been hovering in. His hands tightened around the strip of red fabric he clutched as his mind reeled at what he'd heard.

Rose didn't think she was – his hearts urged him to go after her, convince her of how wrong she truly was …

Rasillon! What a mess. He paced, his brain flying over all the things he could say, couldn't say, wouldn't say; every possibility led to a discussion he found himself incapable of having.

"Doctor?"

His head jerked, his eyes locking with a furious Jackie Tyler. Anger roiled within him and he wanted nothing more than to rage at her for bringing up the subject he felt least capable of dealing with but … did he want to acknowledge that he had heard their argument? His quick mind played out the possibilities and the Doctor made a decision.

Tamping down on his anger, he allowed his worry for Rose to surface. "Jackie! What is wrong with Rose? I came in to give her this," he waived the red bikini. "But she just flew by me, sobbing."

Anger hardened his face as he held Jackie's gaze. "What happened?"

To his secret pleasure, Jackie flinched before her jaw tightened. "We were talkin' and she didn't like what I had to say –"

"And what exactly did you say –"

"Yer gonna have to ask her that." He opened his mouth to demand she answer him but Jackie stalked away, waving him toward the door Rose had fled through. "Go after her, Doctor. If she tells ya then fine but I'm not gettin' into the two of ya's business."

The Doctor snorted but refrained from pointing out that Jackie Tyler sticking her nose into his and Rose's business was the reason he was now facing a situation he had tried to avoid.

Spinning on his heels he stalked out the back door, yelling back to Jackie to keep an eye on his son.

He trudged toward the small figure huddled at the water's edge wondering what to say. He'd heard every word of Rose's argument with Jackie and his hearts begged him to comfort Rose, to tell her that everything she thought was wrong and that he wanted nothing more than to love her for eternity but …

He raked his hand through his hair and sighed. In his nine hundred plus years he'd discovered that there was _always_ a "but". Stupid conjunction, who decided the English language, needed such a word anyway? Why the need to tie two complete sentences together when one sentence, I want to love you for eternity full stop would be brilliant?

He snorted. The dratted conjunction was there because he was a Time Lord, a ridiculously complicated, long lived alien with blood on his hands and darkness in his soul. An alien whose presence more often than not was the harbinger of death and he'd went and fell in love with a human.

He sank down onto the sand beside Rose and pulled her into his arms.

"Rose?"

She pulled away and scrubbed at her face. "I'm fine, Doctor, just fightin' with Mum." She glanced at him and flashed a tight smile. "Nothin' to worry about. She … it's normal."

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear, wondering what his next move should be. She'd given him an out. He could make a flippant comment, make her laugh, and the whole thing would be forgotten; or, in Rose's case, buried away deep in her heart.

Or he could be honest …

He sighed and looked out to sea. Rose was such a beautiful human; Full of compassion, love, and wisdom beyond her years. She'd saved him. Through her eyes he'd seen the wonders of the universe and rediscovered his purpose after the horrors of the Time War. She'd made him want to live.

She'd brought – no, she _was_ the light that shined into his blackened soul and she deserved so much more than to have her fate tied to his. It was selfish of him to love her, to keep her by his side …

He had no doubt that Rose would stay with him until she died and she'd face mortal peril every day.

He shuddered as the memory of her flight from the Black Guardian rose within his mind. Danger was a constant in his life but this ... Rose couldn't know how bad with a capital 'B' things were about to get if the Guardians were involved. His hands clenched into fists at the thought of the amoral eternals using Rose to get to him.

Even if he did tell her what he suspected she would argue that that was her choice to make, and though he didn't like it, a part of him could admit that it was, but what about their son?

Jake deserved more. True, he was a Time Lord, but the life he had chosen to live wasn't normal, even for Time Lords. He glanced at Rose. She thought the life he lived was what all Time Lords had done; she didn't know just how much of a renegade his people had thought him.

If Gallifrey existed he'd have taken Rose and Jake there and settled into a life befitting a proper Time Lord, or tried to at least. But that wasn't an option now …

He sighed and made up his mind.

He forced a grin he didn't feel and nudged Rose with his shoulder. "And when has Jackie Tyler ever been _normal_?"

Rose took the bait he'd dangled and snorted. "Well, it's normal for her." She stood and held out her hand. "Come on, I believe someone promised me a day of lounging on the beach."

He allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. Heart heavy and feeling every one of his over nine hundred years he summoned the will power to assume the mask he'd worn for so long it was second nature. He winked at Rose. "Oh yes! Sun, sand, surf and …Rose Tyler in a skimpy red bikini." He tugged on her hand and set off toward the house. "A man can't ask for more than that!"


	12. Chapter 12: These Dreams

A/N I appreciate everyone who has reviewed and followed this story and I'd like to give all of you a choice. I have chapter 13 written but before I post it I'd like to hear from you because, should I post it, I'll probably not post again for about a week, week and a half as I would like to work on my other story, A New Path, and real life will be ramping up as kids go back to school. So, do you all want instant gratification or ...

Let me know in the reviews and majority wins :)

* * *

Chapter 12: These Dreams

Rose lay in the sun, the combined sounds of her family's laughter and the pounding surf lulling her into a relaxed state that would have her asleep in minutes if she surrendered to it. Her Mum's strident voice floated on the wind, making Rose shake off her lethargy and prop herself up on her elbow.

Rose's lips quirked as she tracked the source of the argument to see Pete and her Mum struggling to get a strangely shaped kite into the air while her little brother chewed on the thing's tail.

She frowned. What had the Doctor called it? Ah yes, a nareer, this planet's version of a cow; a shaggy animal that produced bright yellow milk. Weird thing to model a toy after but … to each his own.

A shriek drew Rose's gaze back to the ocean in front of her. She smiled as Mickey tossed Martha into the water. So much for the girl's crush on the Doctor.

Rose would willingly bet the rest of Pete's fortune that Smith and Jones would be a couple. It was only a matter of time and proximity. She grinned. Looked like the Doctor's pan-dimensional matchmaking service had struck again.

Speaking of the Doctor … Rose raised a hand to her eyes and frowned. Where had he and Jake wandered off – a warm feeling, that had nothing to do with the sun, filled her as her gaze fell on the sight of the Doctor building a sand castle for their son.

Rose smiled as the Doctor gently removed a sandy shovel from the baby's mouth and showed him the proper use for the tool. She snorted and shook her head.

"What's so funny then?"

Rose jumped and looked up to find the ever handsome Captain Jack offering her a drink.

She smiled, accepted the bottle, and then motioned toward the shore line. "Jake was trying to lick the shovel and I couldn't help but think 'like father, like son'." She smirked. "The Doctor has one heck of an oral fixation."

Jack leered. "Oh? Do tell …"

Rose slapped his leg. "Jack! Nothing much to tell …"

Jack snorted. "Oh don't give me that! There is a bouncing bundle of joy over there playing in the sand that suggests there is a lot to tell!"

Rose giggled. "There really isn't though. Not back when we traveled together anyway." She shrugged. "Was a heat of the moment thing and right after that was Canary Warf so…"

She grinned and peaked at Jack through her lashes. "Of course I'm hopin' that will change now and, if the good morning kiss I received is any indication …"

Jack laughed. "Ah, you two are so cute!"

Rose smiled and patted the sand beside her. "We haven't had much time to talk. Tell me what you've been up to."

Jack plopped beside her and took a swig of his drink. "Well, basically I've been doing the same thing since shortly after my vortex manipulator crapped out." He shrugged. "Working for and now running Torchwood."

Rose bit her lip. "Have you ever … I mean, all those years." She peaked at him through her lashes. "Did you, um, you know, ever settle down? Have a family?"

Jack was quiet so long Rose thought he wouldn't answer but finally he sighed. "I did, but … it's hard, living on alone …"

Rose squeezed Jack's hand and watched the waves lap at their feet. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I never wanted … never intended for you to –"

"Rose." Jack tugged at her hand. "You couldn't control it and hey," he grinned at her. "I'm flattered that you thought the universe needed Jack Harkness in it for eternity."

Rose tried to smile but sniffed instead. "I love you, Jack, and I'm so glad you're not dead, but you're life now … it must be –"

He nudged her with his shoulder. "Not gonna lie, sweetheart. A few rough centuries, but now? I'm doing something that is necessary, in the century that Earth makes first official contact! And I've got a great team. We're a bit like a family." He winked. "The slow path isn't so bad when you have that."

"Yeah?"

"Yes!"

"Now then, it's a gorgeous day in paradise and we are surrounded by friends and family; enough serious talk." Jack looked over at the Doctor and Jake.

"That's not a proper sand castle!" He shook his head. "It seems I am never off duty as the Doctor has managed to wiggle his way into another mess." He got to his feet and gave Rose a cheeky salute. "Tan that beautiful body, my love. I've got to go show the Doc how it's done. Can't have my nephew unfamiliar with human customs, it's half his heritage!"

Rose chuckled and watched as Jack and the Doctor began to argue over construction techniques, each man appearing to be asking the tiny baby in between them to referee. The Doctor was a great father and from the looks of it, Jack would be too someday. Her lips twisted into a rueful smile. Or perhaps he was calling on skills learned long ago.

She sighed and lay back on the towel. Guilt over Jack continued to pester her but the warm sand, gentle breeze, and lull of the waves were calling her. Rose closed her eyes, unable to fight the urge to nap.

"Really, this is most improper. You know the rules."

"Of course I do, but if another is not abiding then I don't feel constrained to either!"

Rose sighed and opened her eyes only to blink as she encountered nothing but white; fluffy, swirly white. She gulped and tried to sit up only to find she had no control over her body.

Hang on, do I even _have_ a body?

A chuckle filled her mind, the deep voice resonating through the cloudy vapours surrounding her. "Welcome, Little Wolf, we have waited such a long time."

Out of the mist appeared an old man dressed entirely in white, even his hair and beard were white. Only his eyes stood out from the surrounding nothingness; dark blue eyes as fathomless as the deepest ocean.

Alarm began to creep into her mind until she noticed the merry twinkle in the stranger's eyes. "And to answer your question, Little Wolf, you do indeed have a body. However, it is busy at the moment."

Rose swallowed, though she wasn't sure how, and met the man's gaze. A million questions crowded her brain, clamoring for attention though the one she chose to voice seemed to be the least pressing. "Hang on, what do you mean, my body is busy? How can my body be busy without me?"

Again the chuckle that echoed around the 'not' room. "Indeed, a very good question, as questions go, Little Wolf. For now, let us just say your corporeal form is resting comfortably while we converse here."

Rose frowned, again wondering how she could do so without control of her body. "Umm, yeah that makes no sense, you know? Anyway, who are you and where am I?"

"Ah, more excellent questions. Who I am can wait, where you are is complicated."

Rose huffed. "Look, I'm in no mood for riddles." She blew out a breath. "I must be dreaming. I was watching the Doctor and Jack play with Jake and I fell asleep –"

"That you did, Little Wolf, but I assure you this isn't a dream." He tugged on his moustache. "Well, I should rather say that it isn't a dream from your subconscious. I promise you that I'm real, as are my associates."

Rose peered around the cloudy room. "Associates? Was that who I heard you talking to? Where are they?"

He shook his head. "The time has not arrived for you to meet them. Just know that one of us is always watching the proceedings and will assist when needed."

Rose huffed. "Oh, that is sooo comforting." She rolled her eyes, though she wasn't sure how she managed it. "Look, who are you? And why should I trust you?"

He chuckled and held out a hand to her. "Walk with me, won't you?"

Rose snorted. "And just how am I supposed to do that? My legs are off on holiday, remember?"

The man's lips curled into a wide grin. "Forgive me I forget that this is all new to you. We are in what you might call a dreamscape. Your physical body is recuperating but your mind is alert which enables us to take that stroll I mentioned." He motioned for her to take his hand. "Just imagine you have a body and will it to move."

Rose frowned. "So this _is _a dream. I'm having a crazy dream which means you aren't real."

He shook his head. "No, a dreamscape is something your human thought processes can understand but you are not dreaming as you would properly experience such a thing and I am most certainly real." He nodded toward his outstretched hand. "Take it please, time, relatively speaking, is short."

"I don't understand a bleedin' thing you're sayin'." She thought of her arm lifting and grinned as it followed her command and automatically grasped the man's hand. "Hey! I'm gettin' the hang of this dream body stuff!"

He chuckled again and pulled her to her feet. "Indeed. A quick learner. We would expect no less from you, Little Wolf."

Rose dropped his hand and took a step back. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

He made no move to touch her, simply set out across the clouds, motioning for her to follow. "Forgive my familiarity. I should properly call you Bad Wolf."

"Umm, you've made a mistake. I'm not Bad Wolf." He made no sign that he heard her, walking quickly through the nothingness.

She quickened her pace to keep up with his long strides. "I mean, I was once but the Doctor took it out of me." She stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hey! Are you even listenin' to me? I'm tellin' ya, if you think I'm Bad Wolf then you're in the wrong mind –"

"Little Wolf, you are rather comical." He smiled, amusement clear in his eyes. "Come along, there really is very little of what you consider time."

Rose sighed and followed him. _Glad I can provide entertainment. _She increased her pace until she was walking beside him but made no further attempt at talking. Her mind raced, trying to grasp where she was and why, not to mention who her escort was and what if anything, it all had to do with Bad Wolf.

She sighed. The man said she was Bad Wolf … her mind whirled with the implications of that title. Had the Doctor not taken it from her? Was that why she could talk with the Tardis, well sometimes anyway, and was that how she'd jumped dimensions? She'd thought the dreams and then the jump had been orchestrated by the Tardis but maybe …

"Hey!" She slowed her pace and gathered her thoughts. "Is Bad Wolf how my family and I got out of that other dimension?"

He stopped and cocked an eyebrow. He stared at her for so long Rose wondered if he would answer. Finally he shook his head and then resumed walking.

"No?" Rose forced herself to keep pace. "That's all you're gonna say?"

He glanced at her and nodded.

"Okaay," she huffed. "You're not very talkative are ya?"

He laughed. "Not particularly, but I've made an exception for you."

Rose snorted. If this was his idea of conversation …

He stopped and reached through a dense formation of clouds. "Ah, here we are."

To Rose's amazement an archway appeared in the midst of the clouds. She gasped at what appeared on the other side of the arch; inky blackness of space, interspersed with twinkling stars. Squinting, she could just make out larger shapes that she knew to be planets.

"What galaxy is that?" She whispered.

He looked down at her, pride shining from his eyes. "So quick witted." He nodded, murmuring, "We made the right choice."

Rose snorted. "I guess, though having traveled with the Doctor for over two years I'd better recognize a galaxy when I see one, wouldn't you say? Be a bit thick if I didn't."

She frowned and assessed the wisdom of pressing the strange man for answers he continued to avoid giving and then shrugged. She wouldn't be Rose Tyler if she started to fear venturing where angels feared to tread.

"So, I've asked you a bunch of questions and you've not answered but a few and ya keep saying time is short so …, reckon' you better start explainin', yeah?"

He opened his mouth to speak but whatever he was going to say died on his lips as a man dressed entirely in black stepped out of the fog. "Yes White, do tell."

Rose gasped and backed away as the man, the thing, from the market approached her. She raised a shaking hand and pointed. "Keep away from me!"

Her skin crawled as the man in black chuckled and continued to advance.

Rose whirled around and started to run. A hand closed around her upper arm and she screamed. "NO! Let me go –"

"Ssh, Little Wolf, you are quite safe … here."

She struggled against the man in white's grip and glared at him. "So you say, but you're the one who brought me to where that thing is! I don't trust you! Let me out!"

He released her but Rose found that she was frozen in place.

Wide eyed she met the man called White's eyes. "What did you do to me? Why are you doing this?"

"Calm yourself and I will release you. Nothing and no one can cause you any harm in this place." Unblinking, he held Rose's gaze. She gulped and pushed down her fear. She took several deep breaths and managed to get her heart to slow it's frantic pace.

"Excellent!" He snapped his fingers and Rose felt control of her body return.

White smiled at her. "You really are quite a remarkable creature."

His smile disappeared as he turned to the man in black.

Rose gulped. He had seemed so harmless, like someone's grandfather, but the look on his face now … it reminded her of the Doctor when he was angry but instead of the storm that brewed in the Doctor's eyes the man in white's blue orbs flashed with a light that reminded her of an exploding sun.

"Black, still breaking rules I see." Eyes never leaving the man, he reached out and closed a hand around Rose's wrist, pulling her to stand slightly behind him.

"Rules," Black smirked. "And you are following them to the letter I suppose." He snarled at Rose.

"My actions have only been in response to yours."

Black snorted. "So, I started it? What of Red's actions then? Or does the self righteous one receive special consideration."

White's eyes narrowed and a muscle ticked in his cheek but his tone was mild when he spoke. "Really Black, special consideration? Red simply responded to another of your actions."

Black tensed and looked away which drew a chuckle from White.

"Surely you didn't think that had gone unnoticed? Whatever the outcome, remember that it was you, Black, that started this ..." He nodded toward Rose. "But one way or another, they will finish it."

Black growled and lunged at Rose.

Rose screamed and raised her fists but White jerked her away, muttering. "The time has not arrived …"

Rose trembled and White's hand fell upon her shoulder. "Little Wolf, you have no need to fear."

The man in black emitted a sound that could vaguely be called a laugh. "Doesn't she though …"

"Enough Black! State your purpose and leave."

Black quirked an eyebrow and smirked. "My purpose? Why White, I should think that was obvious. You've interfered and broken the rules. So now it's my turn …" His gaze raked over Rose and he smiled, though it held nothing but contempt. "Time to _educate_ your little … pet."

White stiffened and took a step forward, stopping when his chest was a hair's breath away from Black's. "You're fight is with me …"

"So you will stand in her stead?" Black nodded and narrowed his eyes. "Very well, after all we are so … evenly matched."

White inhaled sharply and Rose's gaze flew to his face. For the first time, Rose saw uncertainty there. Afraid she might be, but the man in white had been trying to defend her … She reached out and clasped her hand in his, squeezing lightly. He jumped and looked down at her, quirking an eyebrow.

Rose smiled and then bit her lip to quiet the trembling. "We'll stand together, yeah?"

White's lips quirked and the nervousness disappeared. His bright blue eyes twinkled. "Oh Bad Wolf, I quite understand Time's Champion's attraction." He released her hand and patted her on the shoulder. "Thank you my dear, but your time has not yet arrived. This is my fight –"

"No White, it is mine!"

Rose jumped as a booming voice filled the room. She glanced at White and frowned as he winked. "I believe the human saying is, 'the cavalry has arrived.'"

He took her hand and pulled her away as a flash of red streaked passed them. "You've stayed too long and the time –"

"I know … the time has not arrived." Rose grinned at his shocked look. "What? Ya been sayin' it enough …"

White chuckled and raised his hand. "Cheeky, Little Wolf, cheeky."

White cocked his head to the side, his eyes going distant for a moment before he smiled. "No need to shout, Doctor, I was just returning her …"

He smiled down at Rose and snapped his fingers.

Rose gasped and opened her eyes to find herself staring into the deep brown orbs of her Doctor. His face was stiff and the Oncoming Storm was brewing in his eyes.

Rose pressed her palm to his cheek. "Doctor?"

He blinked and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Hey!" Rose pushed away and looked at his face. "What's the matter?"

The Doctor's mouth tightened into a thin line. "Are you all right? Did they harm you?"

Rose frowned. "I'm fine. Who do you think was hurting me?"

The Doctor studied her for several minutes and then shrugged. "You were struggling in your sleep and I thought you might be having a nightmare … what do you remember of your dream?"

Rose cocked her head. "Dream?" She frowned. "I … don't remember dreaming of anything." She looked around and noticed the sun was almost set and they were alone on the beach. "Where is everyone?"

The Doctor stood and helped Rose to her feet. "Tea time. Come on, time we were joining them." He tapped the side of his head and smiled, though Rose noticed it didn't match his eyes. "I believe someone is hungry; your son can be quite loud, Ms. Tyler."

Rose laughed and took his hand. "Oi! You sayin' he gets that from me?"

The Doctor's lips quirked. "Well, you are Jackie Tyler's daughter …"

Rose smacked his arm and then tossed her bag at him. "Just for that, you can play pack mule."

He swung the bag over his shoulder and pulled her across the sand, rambling on about some fish Mickey had caught. Rose tuned him out and focused on what he wasn't saying.

He was smiling and his words were light and teasing but his body was taught and he kept looking over his shoulder. She'd been with him long enough to know when he was worried about something and trying to keep it from her.

Just before they reached the porch Rose stopped and wriggled until she was in the circle of his arms. She tilted her face toward him and pressed her lips to his. He stood stiff in her embrace and didn't attempt to deepen the kiss as she had expected.

Rose pulled back. "What's wrong?"

He stared at her, expression unreadable.

She bit her lip. "Doctor?"

He continued to stare at her, his gaze roaming over her face before he shook his head and grinned. "Wrong? Not a thing, Rose Tyler, not a thing." He winked and tugged her toward the door. "Weell, except for the fact that my son is waiting rather impatiently for his dinner."

Rose forced a laugh and followed him inside but she couldn't shake her unease; he was definitely hiding something from her.


	13. Chapter 13: Bitter Pill

Chapter 13

The Doctor averted his eyes as Rose sighed again and shifted Jake closer. The baby had fallen asleep long ago and the frequent yawns from Rose said she was more than ready to find a bed yet she stubbornly remained seated on the jump seat.

"Um, Doctor?"

He scooted out from under the console and glanced at her before looking back at the Tardis circuits. "Yeah Rose?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Uh, Jake's asleep …" She drew a deep breath and slid off of the seat. A second later the Doctor jumped as her arm came around his waist, her fingers moving back and forth across the skin exposed where his shirt had come un-tucked.

He fought against the shivers of arousal her soft touch wrought and forced himself to scoot away and fiddle with the console. "Um hmm, you should put him to bed."

His hearts clenched as Rose sighed. "Yeah, I was gonna turn in too … just wonderin' if you were –"

"No!"

She flinched and guilt slammed through him. He took a deep breath and softened his tone.

"I mean, don't need much sleep, me." He waved a hand at the doors. "You don't need to stay; Jack and I can handle the repairs."

She sniffed and he squeezed his eyes closed. Please don't let her cry …

She sniffed again and sighed. "Right then, I'll ah … I'll see ya in the morning." She leaned over to kiss him but he moved too quickly, scooting around the console. "G'night, Doctor."

"Hmmm? Yes, good night, Rose. Tardis should be ready for travel so tell everyone we'll leave after breakfast."

She scooped up Jake and moved toward Jack. As she passed, a wave of sadness, disappointment, and confusion bombarded him. She was broadcasting a jumble of emotions so loudly that he could barely hear the hum of the Tardis.

He really needed to teach her how to build mental shields. He grit his teeth. Not that there would be time for that now and all too soon she wouldn't really need them...

He yelped as a spark shot out of the console.

_What was that for?_

The Tardis chimed what could clearly be interpreted as an indignant huff. An image of a medieval jester flashed before his mind's eye.

The Doctor snorted. _I take it you are calling me a fool?_

The lights on the console flashed and another spark zapped his hand.

"Oi! I'm trying to help you!"

Jack gave a bark of laughter from the other side of the console. "You're losing your touch, Doc. A ship as elegant and refined as the Tardis requires a delicate hand. Isn't that right, beautiful? "

The Tardis purred.

"Quit seducing my ship, Captain!"

Jack drew Rose into his arms and winked. "Well, you've made it clear I can't seduce Rose ..."

"Jack …"

Rose snorted and murmured under her breath. " … but he's makin' it clear he doesn't want me."

The Doctor stiffened at her words but didn't comment. His hearts were screaming at him to go to Rose and prove just how wrong she was but his brain was putting up a good fight against it, reminding him over and over of what he'd seen today in her mind.

He took a deep breath and forced his emotions under control; he'd do what needed to be done, his hearts be damned.

He made some unnecessary adjustments to the temporal chronometer and tried to ignore Rose saying good night to Jack. Honestly, did he have to hold her so close? He slammed the mallet down on a stubborn piece of metal and wished he didn't have superior hearing as Jack whispered to Rose.

"What's goin' on? Thought you and the Doc were …"

Rose sighed. "I thought so too but, you know him, guess he changed his mind?"

"Nah, I've seen the way he looks at you, sweetheart, he's probably just worried about the Tardis."

"Yeah, I guess so …"

The Doctor pretended to be absorbed in the Tardis fuel system gages as Jack walked Rose to the doors. "Well, I'm off then, good night Doctor."

He glanced up. "Yes, good night, Rose. Remember what I said about leaving …"

She nodded and offered a smile but the Doctor noticed that her lip trembled. "Sure Doctor, I'll make sure everyone is packed."

Rose turned to Jack and gave him a one armed hug. "G'night Jack."

"Night, Rosie." He pressed a kiss to hers and then Jake's foreheads and then winked. "If you get cold you know where to find me."

Rose laughed and whispered. "Oh Jack, thank you, you're always –"she ducked her head as her voice broke on a sob.

Jack tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and murmured. "Hey now, whatever insane notion has turned the Doc into even more of an idiot … you know I'll always be there, Rose, right?"

She sniffed and blinked back tears. "Yeah, yeah I do." She pressed a kiss to his lips and backed away. "I don't deserve you."

The Doctor applied every bit of control he'd honed over nine hundred years and refrained from following Rose as she walked out the doors. It had to be this way, it was necessary; for Rose and his son.

Taking several deep breaths he went back to working on the circuits until he heard Jack settle back at the fuel modulators. "So, Jack. Content on Earth in the twenty-first century, then?"

Jack stiffened but managed a casual tone to match the Doctor's when he replied. "I guess so. Until now I never really had much choice, what with the vortex manipulator being fried."

"And now?"

Jack chuckled. "Well, you could fix the thing, but I doubt you will, or I could get you to drop me off in my time but …"

The Doctor propped himself against the console and looked at Jack. "But?"

Jack shrugged, glanced at him and then continued to tighten the fittings. "Well, not sure I really belong there now. I mean, not that Cardiff is home but I'm needed there so –"

"So for now at least you're content to stay there. Run Torchwood?"

Jack's eyes narrowed. "You could say that. Look, Doc what's going on between –"

"And do you think there might be a place for Pete and Mickey, if they want that?"

Jack huffed. "Yeah, sure. Don't change the subject. What's with you and –"

"And Rose? Would there be a place for her … in your life?"

Jack threw the spanner down and spun to fully face the Doctor. "What are thinking?"

The Doctor tugged at his earlobe. "Ah, nothing really. Just wondered if you'd be available to, you know, help the Tyler clan get settled back in this universe."

Jack snorted. "I've already said that I would help Pete, Jackie, and Mickey but I don't need to do anything for Rose because she will be with you, _right_? Rose and your son will be here, on the Tardis, where you will look after them."

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away from the anger blazing from Jack's eyes. "Yeah, about that."

"Doc …"

The Doctor sighed. "I know I don't have any right to ask favors from you, Jack, not after what I did but …" he met Jack's eyes not bothering to hide the emotions he knew must be swirling in them. "For Rose? For Rose and –"he gulped and forced the words past his tight throat. "And my son? Would you do it for them?"

Jack stepped closer, dropping his hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I would do anything for Rose and Jake, you know that."

The Doctor nodded. "Yep, never doubted it really." He dragged a hand through his hair and started to pace. "It's a lot though, what I'm asking –"

"Doc, please don't tell me you're –"

"I have to Jack! You know my life, it's no place for a baby, Time Tot or not. And Rose …" he looked down at his feet and sniffed. "Rose deserves a better life, Jack. A human life and I can't give her that."

The Doctor jumped as Jack's hand slammed down onto the console. "Damn! For such a genius you are a first class idiot! Rose doesn't want the house, dog, and two point four kids! You know that."

The Doctor glared at Jack. "Doesn't matter what Rose thinks she wants. This is best for her and she likes you, Jack. Loves you even. In time, when I'm gone, then …"

Jack snorted. "Christ! You are something else. Regeneration must really change you or else it fried some brain cells." Jack shook his finger. "Can you honestly stand there, look me in the eye and insinuate that you want me to be with Rose? To raise your son?"

The Doctor forced himself to meet Jack's furious gaze.

Jack rolled his eyes. "What happened to the man who threatened me with death by a thousand cuts if I so much as looked at Rose that way? What happened to 'hands off the blonde'?"

The Doctor's shoulders slumped as he lowered his head. "Same man, Jack, same man …" He glanced at Jack. "But this is best, for both of them. They'll be safe."

"Safe from what?" Jack narrowed his eyes. "What are you hiding? Is there a threat?"

The Doctor tugged on his earlobe. "I'm not hiding anything and there is always a threat, you know that!"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I do but I also know the Tardis is the safest place Rose and Jake could be so … what is coming for you?"

The Doctor huffed and tried to bluster away Jack's question but the former Time Agent just stared at him until he cracked. "Fine. What happened to Rose in the market? I suspected it was the work of a Guardian of Time and today on the beach …"

He licked his lips and blinked several times to get control of his emotions. "I went to wake her from her nap and somehow I was pulled into her mind."

He waved a hand at Jack as he began to question. "I don't know how Rose did it. She seems to be telepathic now, at least a bit. It's neither here nor there right now."

He paced around the console. "When I was pulled in … Jack, she wasn't dreaming, not properly." He met Jack's eyes and gulped. "She was in the Six-Fold Realm."

The Doctor sighed at Jack's confusion. "Humans call it Calabi-Yau Space, it's the six higher dimensions. All transcendental beings, except for chronovores, live there with the Council of the Guardians of Time being the six-fold god." He dragged a hand through his hair. "Any of this sounding familiar?"

Jack gulped. "Ah, yeah, but I always thought it was myth – Doc, are you telling me the legends about the Guardians are real?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Of course. Though I'm sure half of what you've probably heard has been exaggerated, much like the legends about Time Lords."

Jack gasped. "Doc, everything I've ever heard about the Guardians says they are bad, bad news."

The Doctor grimaced. "They are bad, Jack. Bad with a suitcase full of bad on top, although I should say I've only met two of them and White isn't too terrible. Sent me on a quest once, kept his word, I'll give him that."

He rounded on Jack and pointed his finger. "But Black? Oh he is the epitome of bad. Creates chaos," he snorted. "That's his job, to cause chaos in the universe while White is his counterpoint."

Jack shook his head. "Counterpoint?"

The Doctor sighed. "The Six-Fold god is actually six transcendental beings, each charged with a different aspect of the universe. Black is the Lord of chaos and darkness while White is the Lord of light and order."

He scrubbed a hand down his face. "They, they are equal in power but grow stronger or weaker depending on the state of their elements in the universes; they are each essential to keeping the universes in balance which is why they are co-equal and their positions are unambiguous."

He chuckled. "You know what to expect from the Black and White Guardians. The others? Well …" He scratched the back of his neck and paced around the console.

"I don't know much about the other Guardians, except that there are four of them and they each have responsibility over smaller aspects of the universe. The Red Guardian is responsible for Justice and Truth –"He cocked his head. "You know, I wonder if that is who Rose saw in the market?"

Jack frowned. "But I thought you said it was Black who attacked her?"

The Doctor waved a hand and nodded. "Yes, yes, it was. But! Rose said something red came to her defense and …" he tapped his finger against his bottom lip and frowned, trying to recall exactly what Rose had said.

"Ah … Rose said she felt like her defender wasn't helping her so much because of compassion as it was the right thing to do." He laughed. "I thought it odd at the time but … it makes sense if it was the Red Guardian."

He clapped his hands and met Jack's confused stare with a grin. "Never mind, it'll all make sense eventually. Anyway, Red seems to be pitting herself against Black, and I can't help but think that is a good thing. Hopefully the Gold Guardian will too."

"Gold? What does she do?"

"Hmmm? Oh, him. The Gold Guardian is male and he presides over life and death."

Jack chuckled. "Guess it would be nice to have him on our side."

The Doctor nodded. "Quite. Now, the Chrystal Guardian oversees dreams and fantasies and legend says she is fickle and flighty as is the Azure Guardian. He is in charge of equilibrium and balance –"

"Doc, when you say fickle …"

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow. "Like it sounds, Jack. White can be trusted to always insure that his domain is protected and it appears as if Red is putting herself on White's side but the loyalty of some of the others is more in question; from what I've heard they are amoral and not to be trusted."

Jack frowned. "So, you're saying these other Guardians might not side with the good guys?"

The Doctor smirked. "That's just it. They don't see it like that. They aren't human, Jack. There is no wrong or right, only balance and continuation of their particular aspects. They will do whatever is necessary to protect their realms. How that is achieved … well that's where the rumor of amoral comes in."

Jack whistled. "Are you telling me these things are after Rose?"

The Doctor spun around and frowned at Jack. "When did I say that?"

Jack huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Isn't that why you're talking about leaving Rose on Earth? Because the Guardians are after her?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh no, if they were after her she wouldn't be safe on Earth at all …" He shrugged. "Or anywhere really, though the Tardis should be able to keep them out."

"Should?"

"They're transcendental beings Jack! In charge of the universes. I don't really know if the Tardis shields could keep them out if they really wanted inside … and I'd rather not find out."

"If she isn't safe on Earth but you think she might be safe on the Tardis –"Jack rolled his eyes. "Doc, what the hell are we going to do to keep Rose and Jake safe?"

The Doctor frowned. "I just told you. Really Captain, keep up! Rose and Jake will be perfectly safe on Earth." He looked away and shrugged. "Like before, it's me they want. As long as Rose and my son are away from me …"

Jack shook his head and stepped away, wiping his hands on a rag. "So that's it? You're going to make this type of decision for Rose and your son without any input from her? You're not even going to tell her there are some creepy gods after you –"

He dragged a hand through his hair. "Ok, I get you wanting them safe while you go off and deal with the crazy gods but when you've sorted it … Doc, why the hell wouldn't you come back for them?"

"You're assuming that I can." The Doctor's shoulders drooped as he sighed. "Even if I can sort this mess, what then, Jack? Travel across time and space enjoying the scenery until we stumble upon the next threat?"

Jack shrugged. "It's what we've always done, Rose knows the risks –"

The Doctor slammed his hand against a strut. "And what about Jake? Does he know the risks too? Or should I leave him behind until I have to come back and say I've managed to get his mother killed!"

Jack held up a hand. "Woah Doc, take it easy. No one is going to get kill—"

"You can't say that, Captain, not everyone is immortal."

Jack flinched. "Yeah, ok I get it. But Doc, you expect me to take your place? And you somehow think Rose will just go along with this?"

The Doctor took a deep breath and forced the words that would shatter his hearts. "I've already made the decision and I think, given enough time and your considerable charms, not to mention the fact that she'll hate me … Rose will be just fine with it."

Jack laughed, though there was no humor in it. "Ok, leaving aside your apparent _pimping_ of Rose –"

Jack held up his hands as the Doctor growled low in his throat. "It's accurate! But, putting that aside, just how are two humans supposed to raise a Time Lord child? I mean, Rose and I are far from stupid but we ain't on your level, Doc, and I understand Time but I can't explain your kind's extra senses …"

Jack snorted. "And there's the minor fact that we won't have a Tardis, or are you going to fix my vortex manipulator for him?"

The Doctor sighed. He was desperate to be alone to wallow in his misery but Jack had asked valid questions. He dragged a hand through his hair and took several deep breaths. "Raising a Time Tot is not much different from raising a human child, they need love, encouragement, and guidance too and you and Rose are more than capable on that score."

He snorted. "Much as I hate to admit it, Jackie Tyler will be a great help too; she raised Rose against incredible odds and turned out a brilliant and amazing woman."

He paced around the console, brow furrowed. "As to helping Jake learn to understand and use his Time Lord abilities … I can produce holos explaining them but most of it is instinct in the end. Education? Well, the Tardis library is well equipped on that score. When the time comes I can bring you what Jake needs."

He sighed and met Jack's eyes. "It's best if I stay away. I can shield myself so he doesn't feel the telepathic connection … just let Jake forget all about me. But that doesn't mean I won't be around. I can pop in when you need me …"

Jack huffed. "Are you even listening to yourself? You're just going to what, hide in the shadows? Skulk about and observe?"

The Doctor glared. "Why not? Observing is a Time Lord tradition, after all." He drew a deep breath and sighed. "Look Jack, the lifestyle I'm proposing for Jake isn't that unusual for a Time Lord. Very few of my kind ever left Gallifrey or even owned a Tardis! Most Time Lords worked in the Academy, government, or research; I was a rebel, my people never understood me or liked what I was doing."

The Doctor's lips twitched at Jack's confounded expression. "Is it so surprising that I was considered an oddity?"

Jack snorted and rolled his eyes. "No, not really, but I thought Time Lords were charged with policing Time, making sure it stayed on course and fixing things, like you've been doing."

The Doctor chuckled. "Weeell, Time Lords were overseers of the Web of Time and the technology of time travel but mostly that involved observing from afar; rarely if ever, did they interfere."

He blew out a breath. "Before the Time War, time flowed without many glitches. Oh, I still stepped in when issues of injustice and oppression occurred, just like now, but that wasn't because time was damaged. The impact from the Time War has caused much of what we've been fighting these last years because the loss of Gallifrey upset the balance in the universe. Do you understand?"

Jack shook his head. "A bit, but not really. I get what you're saying about the effects of the Time War but are you saying that, before the war, the rest of the Time Lords observed bad things happening on other planets but allowed them to occur?"

"Yep, that's it in a nutshell. As long as nothing was threatening the evolution of a planet or species in such a way that the Web of Time was endangered my people were content to let things run their course. Only if an action would stress the entirety of the time streams did they choose to act."

He snorted. "And when they did act, it wasn't with mercy or out of a sense of justice! Oh no, surgical strike, pluck the offenders out of time, untangle the knot in the web, and back to Gallifrey. Most species never knew anyone had interfered in the first place."

The Doctor looked at Jack. "So you see? Life on Earth wouldn't be so very different from life on Gallifrey. Jake can gain his education and then enter a field or fields of his liking and … live a life."

Jack snorted and shook his head. "And I suppose you've checked the time lines?"

The Doctor frowned. "What for?"

Jack quirked an eyebrow. "Really? You plan to drop a baby genius on Earth and let him live a life and you aren't concerned that he might change the course of Earth's history, might, I don't know, grow up and invent something that advances civilization quicker than it should?"

The Doctor grimaced. "It's possible but like I said, I'll be around. If that situation looks to be rising I'll step in …"

He sighed and turned to the console, fiddling with knobs and levers to avoid looking at Jack. "Look, the situation isn't ideal but I've made the decision, Jack."

He glanced at Jack and tried not to flinch at the fury roiling off of the man. "I'm assuming you'll do it so get some sleep. Full day tomorrow …"

Jack tossed the rag onto the floor and stomped to the doors. "You're a fool, Time Lord, an utter fool but I know I can't stop you. You'll leave her whether I do as you ask or not so, yeah, I'll do it."

He pushed the door open and then looked back. "Just so you know I'm not doing this because I agree with you I'm doing this for Rose because she really doesn't need a bastard like you in her life."

The Doctor slumped to the cold grating as the door slammed. He buried his head in his hands and let the enormity of what he'd done sink in. His stomach rolled as he thought of his golden girl and his precious son living without him but at least they'd be alive. In the end that was all that mattered.


End file.
